Invasion
by Dreamr
Summary: An epic length continuation of the OAV manga storyline, after part 2.
1. Birthday Blues

****

INVASION Vol. 1, Part 1: **Birthday Blues.**

DISCLAIMER: Tenchi Muyou! is copyright AIC/Pioneer, LDC. I claim no rights to it. However, the event in this story of entire of my own imagination. So please don't change them. Distribute as widely as desired.

FOREWORD:

I'm not prone to lengthy introductions, so I'll say what I have to say and let you get on to the story.

I drew a lot of background information from the "True Tenchi Muyou!" novels written by Masaki Kajishima and Yosuke Kuroda. If you're curious about them, get on the Internet and go to this site: http://homepage2.nifty.com/tatsumingo/world/world_e.html.

I based these adventures on the OAV world and the subsequent manga by Hitoshi Okuda, so there are a couple of references to those events and appearances by characters created by him. FYI, in the manga, Tenchi dropped out of high school after the girls arrived. I changed that in this story. These events take place after volume 9 of the manga, and assume nothing of great import happens between then and next autumn, when Tenchi begins his senior year of high school.

At this point, Aeka's birthday and age are vitally important to the story. I managed to find a couple of the characters birth dates. Aeka Sept. 21 (Autumnal equinox), Sasami Feb. 14 (Valentine's Day), Ryoko Aug. 23. Here's my solution to the question of the girls' ages. Juraians normally live about as long as humans do. Those who are bonded to a royal tree live many times longer. The aforementioned novels clearly indicate that Yosho, Aeka, and Sasami all grew at a normal rate until they were bonded to a royal tree. So, after a little time allowed for preparations for Aeka's search, and a year on Earth, Aeka has reached her 21st birthday, not including the 700 years spent searching for her brother. That puts Sasami at 10 and Yosho at 25. Just remember that Yosho was conscious and moving around for 700 years more than his sisters were, and it shows in his maturity level.

The inside of the Jurai ships consist of two parts: the bridge, which actually contains the royal tree and serves as a command center (Captain Kirk to the Bridge!) and the habitat. The habitat is the part where we saw Aeka's big house in OAV EP #2. At least that's the impression I got. Either way, I left the distinction pretty fuzzy, so you can draw your own conclusions.

You will find I use the names Katsuhito and Yosho almost interchangeably. Actually I refer to the character as Yosho when he is acting more as the prince, and Katsuhito when things are less formal.

I have one point of style. I don't know about everyone else, but when I'm reading a book and I come to a full-page description of the side of a mountain or whatnot, I get annoyed and skip over it. So you won't see a lot of descriptive details here, unless there's special attention required, or I was feeling particularly artistic at the time I wrote that passage.

What's to come: There are definitely 5 more parts to this volume. They're already written and awaiting my final revisions.

Volume 2 will probably be a little shorter than volume 1. I've already started writing it. It'll deal exclusively with the Masaki family on Earth. Fair warning, I'm going to turn the relationships between Tenchi and the girls inside out. I'm also going to make it painfully obvious who the guest character is.

Volume 3 is planned out but not written. Can you say Galaxy Academy?

Volume 4 is in the planning stages. What was made wrong in volume 3 will be made right.

In addition, there will be a series of INTERLUDES. Notice the Caps? That's what they'll be titled as. Example: "INTERLUDE 3: Tropical Heat". Yes, I already have three of them. The first two are in first or second draft and the third is done planning. Catchy title, huh?

You're probably saying to yourself "Yeah, right. I've heard that one before." Let me assure you, the readers, that I thoroughly enjoy writing these stories, and unless I get a nasty-gram from Japan saying "stop writing", I'll keep on writing them.

Did I say something about lengthy introductions? Okay, sorry! In the future forewords will be much shorter, only giving the standard disclaimer and a few explanatory details as required. Many thanks for being patient.

AUTHOR: Dreamr

LAST REVISION: 06 February, 2003

EMAIL: TrueDreamr@Hotmail.com

BEGIN.

Tenchi Masaki was not sure how Washu had done it, but she had managed to find out when everyone's birthday was. The girls tended to avoid the matter of exactly how old they were. Tenchi knew they were all older than him by anywhere from just a couple of years to over twenty thousand years. They sure seemed young. Today one of them had grown older by another year. The family celebrated Aeka's birthday today. Even Ryoko was getting into it. Although it may have more to do with the large amounts of sake she was consuming.

Tenchi entered the kitchen from the main room to get another plate of snacks when a large crash from the next room told him something was up. He hurried back with the snack, a large bowl of peaches in syrup, hoping he could defuse the situation before it got out of hand.

Just as he reached the door, it slammed open. Ryoko came flying backwards into the kitchen. She did not see Tenchi and crashed right into him. They both fell to the ground. The bowl of peaches went flying into the air.

Aeka came through the door next, a great big mallet in hand. She hesitated to strike, seeing Tenchi entangled beneath her quarry. The airborne peaches flipped and landed right on her head, soaking Aeka in sticky syrup. The phone rang in the background.

Ryoko pointed at Aeka and laughed heartily. Enraged at Ryoko's mockery of her, Aeka swung the mallet. Tenchi covered his head, hoping she would not hit him instead. Ryoko pulled him out of the way just in time. Aeka's mallet-strike left a large hole in the floor.

"Hey, Princess Peach-head! You almost hit Tenchi!"

The unusual amount of care Ryoko was showing for Tenchi's safety made Aeka hesitate again. It was just the opening Ryoko was looking for. She swung a leg at Aeka, catching her in the midsection with a huge round-kick. Aeka crashed through the kitchen wall, ending up in the yard outside. Ryoko stood triumphantly in middle of the kitchen.

"Got'er!" She immediately flew through the new exit out to the yard in pursuit.

For a moment, the kitchen was blissfully quiet. Tenchi remained on the floor, staring at the ceiling. He was afraid of what he might see if he got up and looked out the hole the girls had created. Aeka had looked pretty pissed at Ryoko for making a mess of her party.

Then again, it was pretty inconsiderate of Ryoko to mess with Aeka tonight. The one-time space pirate could not stand anyone else being the center of attention. And if one of them saw Tenchi interacting with the other, they would immediately start arguing over which of them he liked better. Tenchi hoped they would never force the issue with him. But in truth, he knew that eventually they would. The day loomed large in his mind. 

"Tenchi?" A young girl's voice asked him. Tenchi realized he had closed his eyes. He opened them to see Sasami looking down at him with concern.

"Are you okay?"

Tenchi sat up with a groan.

"Yeah. Just a little tired, I guess."

"Ooh. Are Aeka and Ryoko wearing you out?" She sympathetically inquired.

"Something like that." Tenchi looked around the now drafty kitchen. "What a mess." He sighed heavily. "I guess I'd better start cleaning-up."

"Oh, no, Tenchi." Sasami insisted. "Don't you worry about this. I'll take care of it. You go get some rest."

"Thanks a lot, Sasami." Tenchi gratefully thanked her. "I think I will."

Before Tenchi could escape, the fourth arrival in the Masaki household made herself known. Mihoshi peered into the kitchen. Her dark skin and blonde hair were a stark contrast to the other more fair-skinned girls.

"Um, has anyone seen Aeka?" She asked of Tenchi and Sasami. They both pointed to the hole in the wall with dour looks pasted to their faces.

"Oh, I see." Mihoshi bounded through the hole as if it had always been there.

"Aeka-a-AAyh!" There was a loud thump followed by a sore sounding Mihoshi. "Ow-w-w..."

Tenchi slowly climbed to his feet. Fortunately, the way to his room upstairs was unimpeded by any debris from the girls' squabble. On his way to the stairs, Tenchi noticed the phone was off its hook. Maybe there was a call for Aeka. That would explain why Mihoshi was looking for her. He heard the thumping of feet coming up behind him just in time to avoid getting bowled over by Aeka as she hurried to field her call.

"Excuse me!"

Aeka picked-up the receiver and placed it against her ear, totally forgetting about the peach juice in her hair. 

"Hello, Mother. How nice to hear from you."

Tenchi realized he was being rude by listening in on Aeka's conversation, so he continued on his way upstairs. As he passed directly behind Aeka, Tenchi noticed how much of a mess her hair really was. He had inadvertently taken a towel with him from the kitchen, so Tenchi wordlessly held it out to Aeka. She accepted the towel, giving Tenchi a glittering smile in return.

Aeka's moment was spoiled when someone grabbed Tenchi's chest from behind.

"Tenchi-i!"

Tenchi had no difficulty identifying his assailant as Ryoko. She was the only one in the house who ever grabbed him that way. Fortunately, Tenchi had some ammunition to use against her this time.

"Ryoko, don't you know it's rude to make a lot of noise when someone's on the phone with their mother?"

Ryoko looked at Aeka, who made a pained face, then reiterated her earlier greeting in a younger, more high-pitched tone.

"I'm so glad you called, Mommy!"

Ryoko turned three shades of green, then disappeared without another word, happy to get away without becoming involved with Aeka and Sasami's mother, Misaki. Tenchi congratulated himself on getting the self-proclaimed seductress off of his back for a short time. He would not mind her advances so much if she were a little more discreet. But Ryoko was so blatant with her affection it was embarrassing. As Tenchi finally began to make his way up the stairs to his third floor room, he continued to compare the two girls in his mind.

Aeka and Ryoko seemed such complete opposites at first glance. Aeka was the First Princess of the Jurai royal family, the monarchs of a huge galactic empire. In accordance with her upbringing, Aeka usually behaved in a high-society sort of way, polite and well mannered. She seemed the most reserved and respectable girl ever. She was so reserved it was hard to tell she had feelings for him at all. At least it was that way until Ryoko got involved. Then they dropped all pretenses and became almost identical in nature, telling anyone and everyone exactly how they felt. The ensuing fight usually ended up destroying part of the house. And somehow, he always ended-up cleaning their mess! It was all just so tiring.

To add insult to injury, Tenchi had been required to attend summer school to make up for all the school time he had missed last year. There was little enough time for his studies now with having to tend the fields. Here it was, the first day of autumn and he was already wishing for a vacation. Tenchi's peaceful moment of self-reflection was shattered by Aeka's cry of dismay.

"I will not! And if you try to make me I'll... I'll go someplace where you will never find me!" She slammed the receiver down so hard the sound of cracking plastic could be heard all the way down the hall.

Tenchi had only just gotten to his bed. If it was Ryoko that Aeka was arguing with, he would ignore it tonight. A moment later, he did indeed hear Ryoko's voice.

"What's the matter, Princess? It's a party, right? Live a little."

"I'm afraid I don't feel much like partying, right now." Aeka told Ryoko, still staring at the cracked telephone.

"Bad news from home?" Ryoko melodramatically asked. Aeka snorted in annoyance at Ryoko's apparent interest in her welfare.

"As if you could possibly understand the complexity of the affairs of the Jurai Royal Family."

"Oh, so that's it!" Ryoko acted as if she suddenly understood everything. "Your father's having an affair! Yep, that'll put a damper on the ol' party spirit for sure." She watched Aeka closely, expecting her to react fiercely to the insult.

"You're disgusting." Aeka told her, turning to go out the door.

_"Well, that's different."_ Ryoko thought to herself as Aeka slipped-on her sandals.

"I'm going to go get my brother." Aeka matter-of-factly informed Ryoko. She did not even look back when she exited the house. Ryoko could only look on in confusion. She shrugged, then went back into the main room.

"Aeka just left." Ryoko announced. "So I guess she won't be needing that piece of cake, will she?"

Unaware of Ryoko's pilfering of her share of the birthday cake Sasami had made, Aeka slowly walked up the steps to the Masaki Shrine. The party had not been going on for long. But her brother, Yosho, the First Crown Prince of Jurai, who now went by the name Katsuhito, had not yet come down from the shrine at which he performed his duties as a Shinto priest.

Aeka reached the top of the hillside stairs just as her brother, who also happened to be Tenchi's grandfather, was closing-up the shrine. She left the stone walkway and cut a straight line across the grass towards her objective.

The priest turned from the shrine entrance, revealing the two bottles of sake he held between the fingers of one hand. He looked across the shrine grounds in surprise.

"Oh, Aeka. I'm sorry. Have I kept the party waiting?" Katsuhito's grey hair and moustache along with weather beaten face and wizened voice made him appear every bit the grandfatherly type.

"No." Aeka answered, slowing to a stop at the foot of the shrine itself. "Ryoko was more than happy to start without you."

"Ah, then it's a good thing I remembered to bring an extra bottle." He held the bottles up with a grin. Aeka could see one of the bottles was her own personal favorite. The other she had never tried before.

"Brother, you need not have gotten me anything."

"But it wouldn't be a birthday party if there weren't any presents. This one is yours." He handed Aeka the left-most bottle. "And this other one should keep Ryoko occupied while you have yours." His grin broke into an open smile. Aeka only barely responded to Katsuhito's good-natured ribbing of her rival for Tenchi's affection. He did not fail to notice her sense of melancholy.

"Mmm... Feeling your age?" 

"Something like that..." Aeka looked away for a moment, unsure of what to ask. "I just spoke with Mother and Father."

"Ahh. I see. Why don't we head back to the house." Katsuhito suggested, pointing back down the hillside. "You can tell me about it as we walk."

"All right." Aeka followed her brother back down the stone steps.

"So. How are Mothers and Father?"

"Well, Ladies Misaki and Funaho are well." Aeka partially answered.

"Mmm-hmm. And Father?"

"Father... is insisting I return to Jurai and marry that ridiculous Seiryuu."

"Ohh! And what did you tell him?"

"I told him I would run away."

"So you would really leave Tenchi behind?"

"Of course not! But..." Katsuhito could see Aeka was very distraught over what their Father had told her.

"Aeka, relax. It's not like he can force you to get married."

Aeka remained silent for a short while, considering her options. But the lack of hard information hampered her efforts.

"Brother, what do you know of Article Twenty-three?"

The former First Prince stopped on the second to last step before the bottom of the stairway. His demeanor took on a much more serious tone.

"Aeka, if Father has invoked Article Twenty-three, you, as First Princess, have no options. He has full legal authority to have you marry anyone he so chooses, so long as you have not already been married by your twenty-first birthday.

The princess also stopped, but on the stone walkway at the bottom of the steps. Her mood grew more despondent with each passing word.

"I won't go." She stated quietly, yet determinedly.

Katsuhito looked down at his sister, once again. It was quite a fix. Like it or not, the King had every right to force Aeka into a marriage. But why this way? Their Father was not a cruel man. Surely this would drive a huge wedge right into the heart of the Masaki Family. Something must have happened back on Jurai. Regardless, there was nothing they could do about it here. Katsuhito tried to cheer his younger sibling a little.

"I have an idea. Since we don't know how much longer we have until someone shows up to get you, why don't we drink-up tonight, and try to have a little fun?"

Aeka gave a small laugh through the wetness in her eyes.

"It would serve Father right if he shows-up tomorrow morning, expecting me to be ready to leave, and instead has to wait several hours while I pack." She straightened herself up a bit.

"Bottle, please." Aeka asked her brother. He smartly handed one of the bottles to her.

"Tonight, we drink." She pulled the cork barehanded and took a huge slug from the bottle. "Right. That's better."

Little did Aeka know how true her offhand comment was. At that moment, one of the most powerful ships in the Jurai fleet was hurtling through inter-dimensional space. Destination: Earth!

The next morning, Aeka awoke to two horrible things. The first was an alcohol-induced headache of legendary proportions. The second was the sound of her mother trying to wake her. Unable to decide which was worse, Aeka turned over, hoping at least one of them would go away. She fell off the raised platform where they ate meals and landed flat on her face.

"Ah-hao-uw!" She painfully rubbed her nose. Aeka felt herself being literally picked-up off the floor and set on her feet. Misaki began to drown her in motherly affection. 

"My little Aeka! Are you all right? Here, let Mommy have a look."

The blue haired lady poked and prodded her daughter's face. Aeka opened her eyes and tried to focus on her mother. She could not remember a thing after the third karaoke album, which had accompanied the second bottle of sake. She was still in the main room. The place looked like a pig's stye. Sasami puttered around, picking-up the trash. Tenchi was attentively standing by. The others were all still crashed out on the couches, except for Ryoko whom she could not see.

"Oh my head..." Aeka complained, lifting a hand to her temple.

"Oh, no!" Misaki fretted. "Somebody bring my little Aeka aspirin and a hot towel!"

Tenchi immediately jumped to comply.

"Yes! Right away!" He went running up the stairs to the second floor restroom where they kept the medications.

"Ohhh..." Aeka moaned.

When Misaki got a good whiff of her beloved daughter's breath, her expression went from very concerned to very cross. Her eyebrows formed a large "V" on her forehead.

"Aeka! Have you been drinking?"

"It was... my birthday party." Aeka managed. Then she remembered why her mother was there. "Mother, I can't marry Seiryuu."

"Oh, Aeka," Misaki promptly forgot about the alcohol on her daughter's breath. "I tried. I really tried to get your Father to change his mind. But he just wouldn't listen." She pulled Aeka into a big hug.

"But, mother, I don't love him. I..."

Misaki gently rocked Aeka back and forth.

"It'll be all right. It'll work out."

Tenchi came running down the stairs three at a time. He ran straight over to Aeka and Misaki and presented the hot towel and aspirin to Aeka.

"Here you are, Lady Aeka."

"Speak of the devil." Misaki said innocently. Both Tenchi and Aeka began looking around overhead.

"No, I don't see her..." Tenchi said.

"You must be mistaken, Mother." Aeka agreed.

Misaki looked completely lost. Sasami filled her in while she picked-up the trash.

"Mommy, did you forget Ryoko lives here, too?" She gave her mother a stern look.

"That's right! I did forget. Hey! That reminds me!" Misaki pulled a stack of envelopes from her sleeve and handed them to Tenchi.

"Here you go."

Tenchi accepted the stack with one hand as Misaki took the hot towel and it's tray with the other. She hooked her arm through Aeka's and began dragging her to the door.

"I can see we have so much to catch-up on! You have to pick out a dress and flowers and -- Oh! Funaho's trying to get that silly law repealed!"

"Really?" Aeka got more interested in what her mother had to say. "Is there something..." Their voices trailed off as they exited the house.

Tenchi was left with one hand empty, one hand full of envelopes, and a mind full of questions.

Sasami sighed.

A small periscope rose over the top of one of the couches. The lense looked left, then right, up, and down, then descended back below the cushions.

"She's gone." Washu's voice announced.

Suddenly everyone was awake, except for Mihoshi who still slept peacefully on the floor under the coffee table. They all came around the couches to see what Misaki had given to Tenchi. Ryoko teleported into the room from wherever she was hiding. They stared eagerly at his hand.

"Whatcha got there, Tenchi?" Ryoko asked.

"Yes, indeed, Tenchi." His grandfather agreed.

"Come on, Tenchi. Share the wealth." His father instructed.

Washu started rifling through the stack.

"Hey, hold on..." Tenchi tried to regain control of the situation.

"This one's mine!" The diminutive redhead shouted triumphantly, holding an envelope in the air.

As soon as they realized there would be an envelope for each of them, the others mobbed Tenchi, snatching their own envelopes before he could sort them. In a moment he was left with only his own and Mihoshi's. Even Ryo-o-ki had taken hers. Resigned to his fate, at least for the moment, Tenchi opened his envelope. When he read the elaborate script written on the card within, he felt something begin to churn within his chest.

"Holy shit!" Ryoko exclaimed.

"Mya mya myah!"

"I wonder if that old tuxedo will still fit..."

"Mmmm..."

"Aeka..."

"And the winner is...!"

Ryoko glommed onto Tenchi.

"The goddesses of fortune have smiled upon the Masaki household!" She decried as if it were the greatest thing to happen since sliced bread. "Aeka's getting married! Isn't that great, Tenchi?"

"No, I don't think it is."

"Come on, Tenchi. It's a wedding. You should be happy!"

"Aeka didn't look happy."

"Aww, she's just nervous. She'll get over it."

Mihoshi, finally returning to the land of consciousness, climbed onto the couch Washu had been peeking over.

"What's all the commotion?" she asked. 

"Aeka's getting hitched." Washu told her.

"Oh, wow!" Mihoshi brightened. "Congratulations, Tenchi!"

Ryoko didn't let that last for more than a moment.

"Not to Tenchi, you moron!!!"

****

"Sor-ry! My mistake. So who's the lucky guy?"

"Why don't you try reading your invitation." Ryoko suggested. "Or is that too difficult for you?"

"No, I think I can manage that, unless it's written all funny like they sometimes do." She began searching her pockets for the invitation she had not yet received.

"Oh, for..." Ryoko plucked Mihoshi's invitation from Tenchi's hand and personally walked it over to her.

"Here. You can thank me later."

"Well, thank you, Ryoko! That's so nice of you!"

Ryoko fumed as Mihoshi carefully opened the envelope.

"I... just... said...!!!"

"Hey, there, Ryoko. Take it easy. It's still early." Nobuyuki told her. "Er, well, for her anyway."

Ryoko imagined great steam vents letting the anger flow away. Somehow she managed to regain control of her emotions. Mihoshi's lunacy wouldn't get to her today.

"You're absolutely right. This is a happy occasion! Aeka is getting married!" To herself, Ryoko added on silently _"...to somebody other than Tenchi!"_

Mihoshi finally found what she was looking for.

"Seiryuu! That's nice. Umm, who's Seiryuu?"

Ryoko nearly lost it. Veins bulged in her forehead and flames blazed brightly in her eyes.

**"He's that pink-headed ponce from Jurai, you numbskull!"**

"Oh, that's right! I remember now. He's the guy Tenchi beat in a duel!"

There was a collective sigh of relief from everyone. Ryoko would not blow-up the house again.

"Hallelujah!" Ryoko exclaimed. "Somebody mark it on the calendar. Mihoshi finally learned how to use the other half of her brain cell!" She paused for a moment, catching her breath.

"I'm takin' a bath. Somebody tell me when breakfast is ready." With that Ryoko flew off to the onsen, mumbling to herself the whole way.

"Goddamn! No wonder the GP never caught me..."

The others began to wander off, as well, talking excitedly amongst themselves about making plans.

Tenchi looked at his invitation again. It said the wedding would be held at the Jurai Royal Palace in four days. He looked up to ask someone how long it took to get to Jurai. But the others had all disappeared. Poof! Well, he would find out soon enough. But, more importantly, Tenchi wanted to talk to Aeka.

They did indeed have to wait a couple of hours while Aeka's possessions were packed and carried-off by the Royal Family's servants. Several large, well-built men quickly and efficiently packed and removed all of Aeka's belongings onto the front deck. A large beam of light covered the movers and their charge. Everything within the beam vanished, presumably transported onto Misaki's ship.

The personal belongings were soon followed by Misaki, Aeka, Sasami, and the two guardians, Azaka and Kamidake. Aeka looked very formal in her full royal robe and hood. They trod down the stairs, a wedding party that seemed more like a funeral procession. At the bottom, Tenchi and the others stood waiting for them. Tenchi waited until Aeka was near before he spoke.

"Aeka." He called to her. "Do you have a minute?"

Aeka paused only briefly to answer. She seemed very reluctant to speak at all. Her face remained hidden inside her hood.

"I'm sorry, Lord Tenchi. I have very little time available. Perhaps there will be time once we have boarded."

"Oh, there's no need to be so formal, Aeka!" Misaki butted in. She addressed the others. "Okay! Bus is leaving! Who's coming along?"

"We all are." Tenchi spoke for the group.

"That's great!" Misaki exclaimed, pleased with their attendance.

"Grandfather was able to make the arrangements with my teachers, so..."

"Ah!" Misaki remembered something important. "It's okay if you want to follow along with Ryo-o-ki. But, I think some of the admirals in the fleet might panic if they saw her following us. So I think you should come aboard Karin. It'll be so much fun! I just know she'll like you all!"

Katsuhito finally spoke up.

"How is Karin, Lady Misaki?"

"Why, Yosho." Misaki looked at Tenchi's grandfather in a way Tenchi could not decipher. The look seemed pleasant enough. "I didn't know you cared." She smiled. "Karin's fine, dear."

Ryoko finally had enough of whatever it was that was going on with the Masaki Royal Family.

"Okay. The soup's getting thick. Come on, Tenchi." She grabbed a hold of Tenchi's arm, trying to drag him out of the house. Aeka's response was swift. Her head snapped around.

"You let go of Lord Tenchi, this instant!"

Nobuyuki, Katsuhito, Washu, and Mihoshi quietly began to withdraw, hoping no one would notice. Sasami hid behind Azaka.

"Down, Princess!" Ryoko began a carefully prepared comeback. "Since you're engaged now, -- " She did not get to finish the second part. Aeka's mother was suddenly standing in front of her. Misaki promptly stuck her thumbs into Ryoko's mouth, stretching her face out wide.

"What did you say to my little Aeka?"

"Ol nol leaz le go! Ahh!" Ryoko tried desperately to remember that phrase to get Misaki to stop. A moment later it returned to her.

"Serves you right." Aeka muttered under her breath.

"I solly, retty lady!" Misaki immediate let go of Ryoko's face.

"Oh, that's so cute!"

Around the corner, Nobuyuki whispered to his father-in-law.

"Good thing Misaki got there before Aeka, eh?"

"Yup."

Onboard Misaki's ship, Karin, the visitors were allowed to explore the interior of the habitat at their leisure. Aeka, Sasami, and their Mother were rarely seen, ostensibly preparing for the wedding.

Ryoko flew around the habitat a couple times, then declared the entire vessel boring. She disappeared into the branches of the Royal Tree and emerged only at meal times.

Washu seemed captivated by the chance to examine another Royal Tree and asked to perform a few tests. Misaki's response was "Look, but don't touch."

Mihoshi proclaimed how lucky she felt to be on board one of the gems of the Jurai fleet and immediately set out to explore the entire vessel. She was not seen again until just before they arrived on Jurai.

Nobuyuki brought with him, in addition to a weeks worth of clothes, a weeks worth of film for his cameras. All five of them. The only word anyone got out of him for the duration of the trip was "Smile!"

Tenchi wandered around in awe. This ship was a lot like Ryu-o. The most interesting part in his opinion was the tree itself. Karin was huge. How it could survive in such a contained environment was unknown to him. But it seemed to thrive here. The air was heavy with moisture and oxygen. Breathing it felt like the stuff of dreams. The dream turned into a nightmare when Ryoko swooped down from the branches and grabbed him.

"Tenchiii!"

"So this is where you've been hiding." Tenchi deducted. "Don't get yourself into trouble up there."

"Aww, nobody minds if I play around up there. Besides, the room they gave me is way too cramped."

"I guess..."

"Wanna take a closer look?" Ryoko playfully asked.

Tenchi could see the familiar look of mischief Ryoko had on her face.

"Uhh, I think the view here is fine."

She ignored his polite declination.

"C'mon!" Ryoko grabbed Tenchi around the waist and flew up through the branches of the tree at full-speed. Tenchi closed his eyes in fright at his unasked-for roller coaster ride through the arboreal scenery. Amazingly, he felt only an occasional leaf slap against his hands. The motion abruptly stopped.

"Take a look, Tenchi."

Tenchi carefully opened his eyes. He could see the entire ship from this position above the tree. Not just the inhabitable portion, but the exterior wooden hull, as well. Tenchi craned his head around, taking in the view.

"Like it?" Ryoko asked.

"It's amazing." Tenchi responded. "But you could have warned me."

"I did. But you didn't want to come and look."

"That's because..." Tenchi began to try to explain to Ryoko why he had not wanted to go with her to see the view, but no reason came to mind, other than he was afraid she might scare him. The trip up had been a little frightening, but not unreasonably so. It was what he had come to expect from Ryoko. With no real reason for his reluctance, Tenchi could only sigh.

"Ryoko, could you put me down now?"

"I could."

"Would you, please?"

"Don't you like the view?"

"The view's fine. It's just..." Tenchi struggled to find an excuse.

"You don't like being with me, is that it?" Tenchi could easily hear the disappointment in Ryoko's voice.

"No! I'm just... not used to being up so high without something to stand on. I feel like I'm going to fall."

"I won't let go, Tenchi." Ryoko nuzzled against his ear. "Not ever."

Tenchi gulped.

"That's what I'm afraid of."

Other than a brief visit within the second Ryu-o unit, Yosho had not been aboard a Jurai ship since his Funaho was forced down on Earth seven hundred years ago.Although he did not agree with the circumstances surrounding this little trip, it was nice to tour around the inside of a habitat again. The journey to Jurai would take almost two days. With so much time and physical space available, a short foot trip seemed to be in order.

With a small pack of provisions on his back, and a walking stick in hand, Yosho took a last look over his shoulder at Misaki's residence. She would be miffed at him for not stopping in to talk for a while. But it was probably better this way.

Misaki's mental list of things to do was nearly complete. She had done most of the legwork for Aeka's wedding, saving her a great deal of stress. The poor girl was really distraught over the entire issue. Unfortunately, there was little Misaki could do for her daughter except complete the last item on her list, which was to sit down and have a nice long talk. She boldly knocked on Aeka's door.

"Can I come in?"

"Of course you may." That was her girl, always polite. Misaki slid the door open and walked confidently inside. Aeka sat on the edge of her bed, a photo album in her lap.

"Ooh! Pictures!" Misaki excitedly exclaimed. She quickly joined Aeka on the edge of the bed. "Can I see?"

Aeka began to explain how she had come by the pictures they were looking at.

"Tenchi's father was nice enough to make copies of the picture he took while Sasami and I were staying with them." Aeka paused for a moment while she turned the page. "I thought I might look through it so I won't... forget."

Before Misaki could begin her planned verbal encouragement, a drop of water splashed against the album page. She looked up to see tears running down Aeka's face.

"Aeka..." Misaki reached out to her little Aeka and pulled her close, comforting her as best she could. Aeka buried her face in her mother's chest.

"It's not fair." She complained. Her voice faltered as Aeka tried to say how she felt. "It's just not... fair."

"It'll get better." Misaki reassured her. "I promise."

"No it won't." Aeka cried.

"Have I ever broken a promise?"

"No."

"So then. It will get better, won't it?"

Aeka could only hope for the best. But her future looked very bleak.

Being held in the air by his waist was starting to wear on Tenchi's patience.

"Ryoko, haven't we been up here long enough? I really need to go talk to Grandpa."

"If you're looking for him, forget it. He disappeared into the hills this afternoon."

"What?" If Tenchi's grandfather had gone walking around the habitat, he probably would not been seen again until almost landfall. Grandpa's foot trips were notorious for their length. Tenchi's plan for gathering information about the wedding arrangements were dashed. Ryoko's questing hands shook Tenchi from his reverie.

"Are you going to let me down or not?"

"Nnnn. You never spend any time with me." The false pain in Ryoko's voice did little to convince Tenchi to do otherwise.

"That's not true. We spend a lot of time together, but I never have any choice about it. I don't feel like playing games right now, so I want you to put me down on the ground."

Ryoko knew better than to contradict Tenchi's wishes when he got this way. If she continued, he would only get angry with her. She started a slow descent through the branches of Karin, trying to prolong her contact with Tenchi for as long as possible. As the greenery passed slowly by, a voice spoke directly into Ryoko's mind.

_"Tell him you want to talk."_

Ryoko turned her head back and forth, trying to identify the speaker. There was no one else within sight.

_"Quickly!"_ The voice spoke again. _"Before you lose your chance!"_

_"Who are you?"_ Ryoko mentally asked. The voice in her head giggled.

_"Female."_ Ryoko decided.

"Ryoko." Tenchi interrupted her train of thought. "I know you can go faster than this."

"I wanna talk!" Ryoko blurted out. She surprised herself by following the voice's advice. Still, what could it hurt?

"Talk?" Tenchi asked. "What about?"

_"Oh, shit." _Ryoko thought. _"Come on! You started this!"_ She mentally shouted at the voice. _"Help me out!"_

Silence answered her.

"Ryoko..." Tenchi began to chide her for making up excuses to keep him there.

"Us!" Ryoko told him. She was even more surprised at what she came up with. "I... want to talk about us."

There was a slight pause as Tenchi considered his response.

"I wasn't aware there was an 'us'."

"Tenchi..." Ryoko grasped a handful of Tenchi's shirt and squeezed it hard. "Please?"

Tenchi sighed in resignation. He dared not so much as move while he tried to understand this new development. Tenchi did notice how Ryoko's hold around him had changed from enticing to something more true. One thing he did not want to do was hurt her feelings. Tenchi carefully put one hand over Ryoko's clenched fist.

"If we talk about this, you have to understand that that's all it is. We're just talking."

"All right." Ryoko readily agreed. It was not everything she wanted, but it was better than nothing.

"First, you have to put me down."

Ryoko quickly looked around. Finding a large branch, she floated over to it then set Tenchi down within reach of the main trunk. He steadied himself with a hand against the tree's thick bark. As soon as he felt comfortable, Tenchi sat down on the wide branch. The branch had to be at least a foot thick, providing an excellent place to sit, or perhaps lie down, if one were so inclined. Ryoko followed the example and sat next to him.

"So," Tenchi began, "is there something specific on your mind?"

Ryoko only looked sidelong at Tenchi. She had no idea what to say. Luckily for her, the voice had more input.

_"Tell him how you feel."_

"I can't." She responded.

"Ryoko." The love struck girl's attention was drawn back to Tenchi. "You said you wanted to talk, but now you won't say anything." Tenchi sighed again. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

"No! I mean... Hell! I don't know. I'm no good at this." Ryoko turned away from Tenchi and flopped down stomach first onto the branch. He legs extended across Tenchi's thighs. Tenchi looked at her in surprise, then started to laugh.

"Ah, well, me either." It felt a little easier knowing Ryoko was as uncomfortable with the current subject as he was. Tenchi let the silence continue for a little while before speaking again.

"I... don't want to make a mistake." He began. "A mistake I can't fix." There was another long pause. "I guess... you want me to choose between you and Aeka, but, I can't do that. Not unless I'm sure. And right now I don't really know how I feel about either of you. I guess... that's not what you wanted to hear." For some reason Tenchi felt wrong saying these things. It made him feel like he was letting Ryoko down.

"Aeka's getting married." Ryoko reminded him. "You don't have to choose." Even though she was looking off in another direction, Tenchi could tell from her voice that Ryoko was not pleased with his admission. The reminder did give Tenchi a direction towards which he could vent some of his other frustrations.

"Then there's this marriage business. Something's not right about that. Aeka shouldn't have to get married if she doesn't want to. How would that make you feel?"

Ryoko turned over. She slipped her hands behind her head.

"Me? Married? Ha! Now that's weird."

Tenchi reconsidered what he had just said.

"Hm. Yeah, I guess you're not really the marrying type." Now that he was thinking about it, Tenchi simply could not see Ryoko getting married. Though he could see her drinking her way through the reception party.

_"As long as we're being honest..."_ Tenchi decided to take advantage of this little heart to heart chat to voice his opinion on some of Ryoko's bad habits.

"Why do you drink so much?"

Ryoko gave Tenchi her traditional response to that question.

"It's something to do."

Tenchi gave her a quick glance then looked away.

"You always say that."

Ryoko was still staring up through the branches when the voice came back again.

_"Liar."_

A pang of guilt lanced through Ryoko's chest. What she had said was not a reason why she drank, it was only a statement about the drinking itself. She had lied to Tenchi.

"Wait." Ryoko sat up, putting her hands down in front of her. She stared hard at the portion of branch between them. "That's not it." With a sigh, Ryoko drew her legs up in front of her. She wrapped her arms around her legs and set her head down against her raised knees. Her gaze rested on the green leaves surrounding them.

"I drink..." Ryoko stopped, then started again with a different phrase. "When I'm drunk, I don't care what other people are thinking." Her voice grew quieter as she continued to clarify her statement. "What they're thinking... about me." The final words were barely more than a whisper, as if Ryoko were revealing some great secret.

Tenchi sat quietly, unsure of what to say. He was just coming up with a response when Ryoko finally asked him a question.

"Tenchi, what do you think about me?"

Tenchi froze. He had no idea how to answer that.

"Am I still a monster?"

"No."

"A demon?"

"No, Ryoko. You aren't any of those things." He finally managed a full sentence.

"Then what am I, Tenchi? What am I to you?"

Tenchi struggled for a moment. Then he found the perfect answer. It was even witty. Ryoko would like it.

"You're a pretty, young, lady."

Ryoko's head immediately snapped up. A huge smile hung on her face like the crescent moon.

"Really?"

"Uh, yes..." Tenchi verified while trying to maintain a neutral expression.

Ryoko began to giggle madly. She suddenly spun around and threw her head and arms on top of Tenchi's thigh. Gratefully, she rubbed her cheek and hands over his leg.

"Tenchi..." At least she was facing away from him.

When Tenchi realized Ryoko was not going to try to seduce him from where she was, he decided to let her be for a while. He had been meaning to show a little more consideration for Ryoko's feelings, since that trip to the nameless planet last winter.

_"You're going to get into trouble..."_ He warned himself.

_"Don't be selfish."_ The rebuttal came back. _"Let her know you care."_

Carefully, and ever-so-slowly, Tenchi lowered his still upraised right hand, palm first, down onto Ryoko's exposed neck. Her eyelids flipped open a couple times, then they slid shut once more. She sighed deeply. That was what he wanted to accomplish. Just to make Ryoko feel good about herself.

Tenchi looked again around the interior of the tree. It really was very peaceful amongst the branches. For once, everything was quiet.

"Okay, that's about it." Washu made one final check on the sensors she was installing around the royal tree, Karin. The sensors were arranged at three equidistant points around the base of the tree. There was a sensor for every kind of energy she could think of, and Washu could think of a lot. Now she just had to wait for something to happen. Thirty minutes later, nothing had happened.

"Aw, come on! Don't tell me nothing's gonna happen?"

Ryoko descended from the foliage with Tenchi in her grasp. They were facing partly away from her.

"That's not what I meant." Washu griped. Still, this could be interesting. She set the sensors to record automatically, then went to go pester Tenchi and Ryoko.

"Hey, guys! What's up?"

Tenchi noticed Washu's approach first. He quickly offered an explanation, as if he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Oh, hello, Washu. We were just talking."

"That's it?" Washu asked. Skepticism ran thick in her voice. "I created Ryoko to be the most physically attractive woman in the universe, and you only talk to her?"

"Well, sure." Tenchi looked confused. "What's wrong with just talking?"

"Tenchi, either I don't know anything about visual-psychological tactics, or you have no libido what-so-ever." Tenchi just looked at her. Seeing Tenchi was not going to divulge any juicy details, Washu directed her next verbal probe at her daughter.

"Ryoko, have you even been trying with Tenchi?" Ryoko did not answer. It might have had something to do with the fact that she had her face buried behind Tenchi's ear.

"Hey! Crazy girl!" That got her attention.

"Shut up! I'm savoring the moment."

Washu reevaluated what she was seeing. Ryoko was all over Tenchi and he did not seem to mind. She decided not to mention to them that she had seen Nobuyuki in the area a moment ago armed with a telephoto lens.

"Hmm..."

Multi-hued beams of light erupted from Karin's leaves. The area was filled with color. Bright lights danced briefly around them, then faded into nothing as quickly as they had appeared. Washu rushed to her sensor console. She was disturbed to find no readings had been recorded.

"What the hell?! They're all blank! This is ridiculous! I refuse to believe these results!" Washu plopped down on the ground to let the strange occurrence stew within her mind. Tenchi and Ryoko stared at Washu. It was unusual to see her thinking so hard. God only knew exactly what she was thinking.

Feeling a crushing sensation around his waist, Tenchi looked down to see Ryoko still had her arms around him. Unknowingly, he had looked down just in time to avoid Ryoko sticking her tongue behind his ear. She opened her eyes in surprise when she missed her target.

"Ryoko, I don't think I'm in any danger of falling from here, so you can let go now."

"So soon?" She complained.

"Soon? We talked for over an hour! What more do you want?" Tenchi instantly regretted his question.

"Well, since you're asking..." Ryoko's hands started wandering towards places they should not. Tenchi twisted around, somehow managing to extricate himself from Ryoko's grasp.

"I think we've spent enough time together for one day." Tenchi almost changed his mind when he saw the look of disappointment which came over Ryoko's face.

"I'm sorry." He apologized, trying to sound more sympathetic. "But, there's some other things I still have to do."

"You'll come back, won't you?" Ryoko expectantly asked.

"Ahh, sure." Tenchi assured her.

"Great!" Ryoko brightened considerably. "I'll be waiting for you, Tenchi." Her sly smile held a promise of things to come.

As Tenchi left to go about whatever business he had, Ryoko mused over the time he had granted her in the branches of Karin. For the entire time they had been up there, she had been hearing a tiny voice giving advice in her head. Out of any better ideas and her own lack of experience, she had taken a chance and followed the voice's advice. To her surprise and pleasure, it had worked. Ryoko wanted to thank whoever had given her the advice, but she was unsure who to direct her gratitude towards. Washu seemed a likely candidate.

Ryoko looked to Washu to ask her about it. She changed her mind when she saw the ground around the number one genius scientist in the universe steaming. Washu was busily chewing on her thumbnail. 

_"Maybe later..."_ Ryoko decided.

END.

AFTERWORD: I recently altered the format to match that of the later chapters (Section headings, etc.), along with a few gramatical erors.


	2. The Pink Haired Ponce

****

INVASION Volume 1, Part 2: **The Pink-Headed Ponce.**

DISCLAIMER: Tenchi Muyo! is copyright AIC/Pioneer, LDC. I claim no rights to the characters or story. I'm only doing this because I love the whole series and enjoy writing stories about the characters. I only ask that no changes be made to this story, as it took me a great deal of time to write it.

FOREWARD

Welcome back! I have discovered I made a minor error on the ages of the characters. At the time of Ryoko's attack on Jurai, Yosho was 22, Aeka 14, and Sasami 3. Nothing major. It just means they stuck around on Jurai longer than I thought, waiting for Yosho to return.

I briefly considered adding a small segment describing the sights and sounds of Jurai when the characters landed. However, since I really don't know enough about Jurai to do something like that, and because it would have been really boring filler just to make this part longer, I decided not to.

So, what you read here picks up after they have landed on Jurai. I probably didn't need to say anything, but I wanted to make sure there was no confusion.

The character of Seto was created by Masaki Kajishima and is not someone I made up. She really is Misaki's mother and is discussed at great length in the True Tenchi Muyo novels, as is Azusa. I couldn't find a reference for Seto's hair-color, so I had to make an educated guess. Gee, let me think... light blue, perhaps?

If you're not British, you probably don't know what a "ponce" is. First I have to thank the British fans that post at the AIC BBS for educating me on the use of that word. Basically, a "ponce" is an upper-class idiot who is totally oblivious to the plight of the common person. I suppose the words "fop" or "dandy" would work, as well. But they don't sound as good as "ponce".

You may notice Tenchi doesn't get to see Ryoko's dress in this part. Don't worry! He'll get to see her in it someday.

AUTHOR: Dreamr

LAST REVISION: 06 February, 2003

EMAIL: TrueDreamr@Hotmail.com

BEGIN.

Ryo-o-ki found Ryoko lounging in the guestroom she had been assigned within the palace. Or rather, just outside of her room, stomach down on the balcony railing, soaking up some of the bright sunlight. She wore her yellow and blue striped dress. The long, brown tail, which always accompanied that dress, hung down almost to the floor, the tip twitching slowly back and forth.

Carefully, Ryo-o-ki crept closer, stalking her prey. When she got close enough, she settled herself against the floor, then pounced. Her small teeth sunk into the end of Ryoko's tail.

"**AAAAAAAH!!!**" Ryoko leapt off the railing onto the balcony floor and whipped her tail back and forth, trying to shake off the new attachment.

"Damn it, Ryo-o-ki! What the hell are you doing?" She reached behind herself to grab the fuzzy creature. Between her own tail lashing around and Ryo-o-ki actively trying to avoid her grasp, she was having major difficulty freeing herself. Ryoko started spinning around as she tried to get a grip on Ryo-o-ki. She looked just like a cat chasing her tail, which was exactly what Sasami was aiming for. The little girl laughed uproariously from her hiding place behind the couch.

Ryoko was starting to get dizzy from all the spinning. She tried to stop, but it was too late for that. She fell over. Ryo-o-ki finally let go of Ryoko's tail. Her balance was also off, making her lean to one side as she wobbled happily back towards Sasami.

"What the hell?" Ryoko tried to focus on the impish child. The spinning in her head rapidly slowed when she realized she was being laughed at by a little girl with a fuzzy creature on her head.

"You promised to go shopping with me, today." Sasami reminded Ryoko of the promise she had made earlier at breakfast.

Ryoko sat indian-style and looked away.

"I don't feel like it, anymore."

"But I don't want to go alone." Sasami implored. 

"You won't be alone." Ryoko tried to wriggle out of going. "Ryo-o-ki will be with you, along with Aeka's guardians."

"Yeah, but I want to pick out something nice like you wear."

"Like I wear?" Ryoko redirected her narrow gaze at Sasami to inspect her. Especially her chest size.

"Hmm... I don't know. I don't think you're big enough to wear the kind of clothes I like."

Sasami pouted.

"I want to look pretty, too." Her impish smile returned. "Besides, it'll make Aeka really mad."

Ryoko brightened.

"Ohh, so it will! Let's go."

Sasami's eyes went wide when Ryoko emerged from the changing cubicle.

"Ryoko, I don't think I can wear that."

"I know. But I need one for the reception." Ryoko explained why she was trying on dresses first. After trying on a variety of dresses, this one included, Ryoko was growing dissatisfied with the selection.

"Nope. This won't do it. Hey, lady!" She called to the woman assisting them. "I want something that'll set a man's soul on fire."

The blonde-haired, pie-eyed, slim young woman examined Ryoko's figure for a moment.

"I think I have something that you'll like in the back. If you don't mind waiting for a moment, I'll go get it."

"Yeah, sure." Ryoko excused the girl.

"Come on, Ryoko. Let me try one." Sasami begged.

"Just a minute. If I don't like the next one then you can go."

Sasami smiled in satisfaction.

The attendant returned a minute later holding a hanger from which hung a black dress made of what looked like only vertical pieces of cloth. Ryoko made a cursory examination of the dress. Once she determined it's basic appearance, her eyes started to gleam in anticipation.

"I'll try it." She snatched the hanger and dress away, then withdrew back into the curtained changing vestibule.

Sasami could hear the sounds of clothes being removed and replaced from within, followed a moment later by Ryoko's visceral laughter.

"Heh, heh, heh, heh. Oh, yeah. There is no way Tenchi will be able to resist this."

All was silent while she admired herself in the full-length mirror. Still waiting outside, Sasami was getting impatient.

"Come on, Ryoko! Let's see!"

Ryoko shoved the curtain aside, revealing herself. Sasami gasped, putting both hands over her mouth. She could see why Ryoko liked the dress. It was slit up both legs, all the way to her hips, revealing a generous portion of her well-toned thighs. Somewhere she had found a matching black ribbon to tie her hair up with. With her hair out of the way, one could see the dress held itself up by wrapping around the back of her neck. The weight of the dress around her neck kept it hanging vertically over Ryoko's prodigious breasts, leaving very little of her cleavage to imagination. The two sides came together well below her navel, while expanding around the outside of her hips.

Ryoko turned around once so her observers could give a full evaluation of her new look. The dress covered absolutely nothing of her back until it reached her waist, at which point it wrapped loosely around her hips and rear-end.

"Ryoko," Sasami finally managed, "I don't think you should wear that."

Both Ryoko and the saleswoman spoke at the same time.

"It's perfect!"

The woman continued by herself.

"But there's more!" She reached out to show Ryoko the small button located just below her breasts. She snapped it closed, pulling the material closer together over her customer's chest. She then went around to the back and, using the two strings that were concealed just underneath the cloth, pulled it taught around Ryoko's chest. She quickly tied them together in a bow.

"There." The woman announced. "How's that?"

Ryoko stepped in front of the mirror again to examine the changes. The effect was subtle, yet significant.

The dress now looked a bit more like the outfits she normally wore, only sexier. The strings had pulled the material further apart, covering Ryoko's sides, but showing more cleavage. The button kept the two sides from coming too far apart, while accentuating her curves. She noticed the increased tension across her chest made her breasts appear to stick out further.

"Lady, you've got good taste."

"You'll take it then?"

Ryoko spoke to Sasami while continuing to admire herself.

"You'll buy it for me, won't you, Sasami?"

"I don't know..." Her diminutive friend teased.

Ryoko turned and gave Sasami her best puppy-eyed impression.

"Please?"

Sasami giggled.

"Okay."

The sales woman was starting to look a little concerned. She looked at Sasami.

"I'm afraid it is rather expensive. Can you afford to buy this dress for your sister, dear?"

Sasami giggled again.

"Ryoko's not my sister! We're just friends. And yes. I can definitely afford it."

Sasami pulled a small card out one of her dress pockets and handed it to the saleswoman, who went bug-eyed when she saw it.

"Your Highness!" The woman promptly fell to her hands and knees, abasing herself before the Royal Family.

"My most humble and profound apologies for not recognizing you sooner! Please forgive me!"

Ryoko rolled her eyes. Sasami tried to make the woman feel better.

"That's okay." She smiled, patting the woman on her shoulder. "Could you wrap it up for us?"

The woman leapt to her feet, ready to serve.

"Immediately, Highness!" She turned to Ryoko.

"If My Lady could...?" She was staring at Ryoko again; who started looking back and forth between her and Sasami in confusion.

Sasami started giggling yet again.

"You'd better take that dress off or you'll get wrapped-up along with it!"

"Oh, yeah. Right." Ryoko immediately pulled the top of the dress over her head and, lowering it to knee level, stepped out of it. She tossed the dress to the blushing saleswoman who hurried away to wrap it. Sasami stared at Ryoko, who now stood in the middle of a high-class fashion store in nothing but a blank expression and her panties.

"Something wrong?" Ryoko asked her.

Sasami pushed Ryoko back into the changing vestibule and pulled the curtain closed.

"Put your clothes on, silly!" She quickly looked around to see if anyone had noticed. Several people were very carefully not looking in her direction.

Tenchi wandered around the Jurai Royal Palace, taking in the sights. The place was huge! He had never seen a building inside a tree before. In Tokyo there were very tall buildings. But this building was not so much tall as it was labyrinthine. It just went on and on. Almost everything was made of wood. Even large support columns that must hold up tons of weight. Tenchi thought it made sense. He knew through his Shinto background that a society that venerated something often took great pains to model their homes and buildings around their beliefs. If the Jurai people believed in the Royal Trees, then it made sense to build the palace inside the biggest tree on the planet.

The palace bustled with activity. There was no chance of getting lost. Everywhere Tenchi went there was always somebody nearby from whom he could ask directions. Though he was enjoying his self-guided tour, Tenchi had many things on his mind.

When he had met Aeka's father on Earth, Tenchi had thought well of him. He was a king, and acted as Tenchi thought a king should. Although the duel he had insisted on did seem a little harsh, Azusa had relented after the wave caused by Mihoshi's crash-landing washed his opponent into the lake. It did not make much sense that Aeka's father would force her to marry someone she did not even like.

Tenchi knew about duty and responsibilities. It was a fact of Japanese society that some children's parents arranged marriages for them years in advance. But this just seemed so out of the blue. Something seemed suspicious. Maybe if he talked to Aeka's father, he could convince him not to do this. Or at least, he might gain a better understanding of what was really happening.

As Tenchi wandered the halls of the Royal Palace, he asked various people where the king was. The answers he received were as varied as the people he asked. Their reactions were also equally varied. Eventually, Tenchi noticed a very stately woman of indeterminate age with thick, wavy, light-green hair, speaking with a small group of people. Unnoticed Tenchi joined them and waited for an opportunity to speak.

"So you see, My Lady, this matter requires your personal attention." One of the male persons finished his pitch. The lady apparently disagreed.

"You know this is a matter for my son to handle. You can't possibly think I have the same authority he has."

"Well, no, My Lady. But..."

"But, you wish to circumnavigate the normal process in hopes of a settlement more beneficial to your cause. Shame on you, Councilman."

The person, a councilman apparently, scraped and bowed in apology.

"Ah, I apologize if I've offended you, My Lady! I meant no offense."

The stern-looking lady stared at the councilman with both displeasure and, if Tenchi were interpreting her expression correctly, mirth.

"Apology accepted. You may go."

The councilman and his attendants rapidly departed, bowing all the way. The woman turned to address Tenchi.

"Now, then. Can I help you?"

Feeling rather intimidated by the woman's strong presence, Tenchi swallowed away the dryness in his throat before stating his business.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but, could you tell me where to find the King of Jurai?"

"Oh, no trouble at all! Finally, a problem I can solve without having to change the orbits of planets. How refreshing! But perhaps I should know your name before I introduce you to the King." The woman's gaze became sterner.

"I'm sorry!" Tenchi felt compelled to bow and scrape as the councilman had a moment ago. "I am Tenchi Masaki."

"Pleased to meet you, Tenchi Masaki. I am Seto Kamiki. I've heard a lot about you."

Tenchi became embarrassed to find his name was known on Jurai. His cheeks blushed slightly red.

"Ah, heh. I didn't realize I was famous." Tenchi scratched the back of his head.

"Oh, a sense of humor, too!" Seto suddenly grabbed Tenchi about the shoulders and hugged him fiercely while throwing his weight around like a rag doll.

_"She reminds me of somebody..."_

Tenchi couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something very familiar about Seto.

Releasing him, Seto put one arm over his shoulder and began leading Tenchi away.

"This is so wonderful! It's about time the two of you had a nice little chat. Don't worry if my boy seems a little gruff. He's been under a lot of stress, lately." She shared the family particulars with him as if they were old friends.

"Uhh..." Tenchi was also getting the feeling that this woman was very, VERY, important. He wondered who was so important they could call the King of Jurai "my boy" and get away with it.

They chatted amicably as Seto led Tenchi through the depths of the royal palace. Every time someone approached, Seto gave him or her an ice-cold look that sent even the most pompous or serious-looking bureaucrat scrambling for cover while muttering the phrase "devil-princess" as they escaped. Though Seto seemed to be ignoring them, Tenchi was sure she must have heard.

"Ah! Here we are." Seto gestured at an open door that led to a very small and empty room. Tenchi looked around as they entered and realized it was an elevator. Sure enough, just to the right of the door, there was a panel with more buttons than any he had ever seen before.

"Hit the top button, would you?" Seto asked.

Tenchi reached forward and press his thumb against the button highest on the panel. It blinked a couple times then remained lit. The gravity suddenly doubled as the elevator took off at an amazing rate of acceleration.

"So, it's true." Seto enigmatically stated. Unlike Tenchi's grandfather, she actually explained what she meant. "Only family members of the ruling royal house can make this elevator go to the top of Heaven's Tree." She paused for a minute, letting the importance of her observation sink in.

"If you don't mind my asking, what are you going to say to the king?"

Tenchi realized he had no idea what he was going to say. Other than expressing his disagreement with the planned proceedings, there was nothing for him to say to Aeka's father.

"I'm... not sure. But something's not right. I met the King when he came to Okayama. He seemed like a decent person. I can't understand why he would do something like this. I need to know more. And maybe I can convince him that this is wrong."

Seto watched as Tenchi's resolve stiffened. She could not help thinking how he reminded her of Azusa at that age. He was even surrounded by beautiful women.

"Hey, Tenchi, I understand you're living with several very attractive young women. Got a girlfriend?"

Tenchi looked at Seto in shock.

"No! I mean... um, well, it's... not like that. We're just friends. Yeah."

"That's not what I hear." She intoned into Tenchi's ear, making his face turn red. "My sources tell me both Aeka and Ryoko have really got something going on for you."

"I can't help that!" Tenchi blurted out. "I don't even do anything to encourage them. In fact, I try to discourage them! But they don't listen."

"Ah, well. Girls are like that at that age. You'll get used to it."

Considering both Aeka and Ryoko's ages, that did not make Tenchi feel any better.

The elevator slowed to a stop, having finally reached the top of the immense tree. The doors slid open, revealing a very well appointed sitting room. It was generally shaped like a cross-section of a bullet; flat at one end and round at the opposite end. Ahead was a large bay window which, when opened as it was now, allowed a great deal of air and light to flow in. There were doors on either side of the room. The one on the right was closed, while the one on the left was ajar, allowing the sounds of women's voices to escape. Just ahead, both Tenchi's grandfather and the King of Jurai sat. They turned to see who had come up by the elevator.

"Tenchi!" Katsuhito scolded, "why are you..." He then noticed who was escorting his grandson. "Ah, Lady Seto." He spoke as he and his father both stood.

To Tenchi, the King of Jurai, Azusa, did not look a day older than when he had visited Okayama months ago.

"What is this boy doing here?"

Seto led a very nervous Tenchi into the sitting room.

"This boy has a name. It's Tenchi, and he is your great-grandson. Or have you forgotten that already, little Azusa?"

Azusa did a double take at Seto's insistence he treat Tenchi as family.

"But..."

"'But's are like excuses, we all have one. As I understand it, little Tenchi has something he wishes to say to you." Seto turned to Tenchi and gave him a push towards Azusa.

"Go on."

Just as Tenchi was gathering his courage to speak, a very excited Misaki entered the room through the door on the left.

"Mommy!" She cried, clasping her hands together at chest level when she saw Seto.

Tenchi's jaw dropped when he heard Misaki call Seto "Mommy". Now he knew who it was the smiling Seto reminded him of.

Misaki and Seto met halfway and embraced in a huge bear hug. Tenchi tried not to stare, while Azusa rested his face in his upraised hand. Tenchi's grandfather was careful to hide his amusement at Tenchi's confusion.

Then Misaki noticed Tenchi.

"Tenchi!" She broke away from her mother and rushed to give Tenchi one of her patented bear hugs, as well.

"Oh, it's so nice of you to come up and see us! We were all so worried you wouldn't come see your poor family the entire time you were here!" Misaki hugged Tenchi until he thought he would die of suffocation.

Seto approached Tenchi's grandfather. "Ah, darling, little Yosho. Since Tenchi is your grandson, there must have been a grandmother." Yosho's face turned red.

"Ah, well, that's a long story."

"Then it's a good thing we live so long, hmm?"

Misaki released Tenchi so she could pay more attention to his grandfather. She went around to Yosho's other side, effectively boxing him in.

"Oh, yes, Yosho. Won't you tell us all about it? You sly dog."

Tenchi watched as the two ladies teased his grandfather.

_"Great. My whole family's screwy."_

"Brother Tenchi!" Sasami came rushing out of the same room Misaki had emerged from a few moments ago. She ran up to him and gave him a big hug.

"Sasami, are they always like this?" Tenchi quietly asked when Sasami released her hold on him.

"Hee hee. Nope. Just when we're alone together. Everyone's always running around doing official stuff. So we don't get to spend much time as a family." Sasami smiled up at him.

"Hey, Tenchi, would you like to see Aeka in her wedding dress? Hee hee. She's really pretty."

Tenchi looked around to see if anybody was watching. Seto, Misaki and Yosho were still gossiping, and Azusa was wallowing in his hand.

"All right. Maybe Aeka can tell me what's going on."

As he and Sasami approached the open door, Azusa suddenly appeared directly in front of them, barring their way.

"I absolutely forbid it." He reached behind himself and slid the door shut. "Aeka will see no one until after the wedding." The king stood resolute before Tenchi.

"But, Daddy..."

"Hush, Sasami. Tenchi, state your business."

Tenchi screwed-up his confidence and began his speech.

"Great-Grandfather, I understand that Princess Aeka has a duty to the people of Jurai. But she doesn't love the person she is supposed to marry. I think it's wrong to make her do this."

"It is our way. To ensure the future of Jurai, Aeka must marry and produce an heir."

"But, isn't my Grandfather next in line?"

"When the Holy Council learned Yosho refused to return to Jurai and that his tree had taken root, he was declared Outcast. Neither he nor any of his descendants may ever return to Jurai without the approval of at least two of the other three houses. It caused great difficulty for us just to get permission for all of you to attend the wedding."

Tenchi thought for a moment before trying once more.

"Aeka spoke of her father as a kind and wise ruler who always listened to the needs of his people. I don't know what's so important that you have to force this on Aeka, but there has to be another way. Please, Aeka's my friend. Let her choose for herself."

Azusa gazed down at Tenchi as he absorbed his words. For a moment, he found his own resolve wavering. However, knowledge of what would happen if the wedding did not take place strengthened him.

"Your plea has been heard. However, the wedding will go on."

"Can I see her?"

"No."

"Is she all right, at least?" Tenchi was beginning to grow frustrated. He was worried for Aeka and her father would not even confirm her health. Azusa's temper flared.

"You think I would harm my own daughter?" His eyes flashed with anger. "This audience is over. Leave at once!"

"Not until I've seen Aeka." Tenchi stubbornly refused.

"You dare!" Azusa raised his hand to cuff the insolent boy.

"Hey!" Ryoko called from her place on the windowsill where she had been watching. "Little, Azusa! Why don't you pick on somebody who's willing to fight you?"

The King of Jurai spun around when he heard the terrible voice from his past. His hand went to his sword.

"Demon! Be gone!"

Ryoko stepped down onto the floor and casually walked to Tenchi's side.

"I'll go if Tenchi goes with me."

Azusa addressed Tenchi again.

"Boy, take this devil-woman and leave!"

Tenchi knew refusing would cause an incident. He looked around to see if there was anyone sympathetic to him, but the others were just sitting by, watching emotionlessly. He looked back at Azusa's angry continence and decided to hold his ground.

"No. I want to see Aeka."

"So be it." Azusa drew his sword, revealing it to be only a handle. A blazing, blue blade appeared, just like the one Tenchi carried in his belt.

Ryoko summoned her own orange energy blade, holding it at the ready.

"Ready for a rematch, little Azusa?"

"I will defeat you, demon-beast!"

The door behind Azusa slammed open, causing everyone to stop and look.

"Stop it, Father!" Aeka cried. "Lord Tenchi is our guest! I want him treated with respect and kindness. Ryoko! Put your sword away."

"Him first." Ryoko indicated Azusa by pointing with her chin.

"PUT IT AWAY!" Aeka screeched at Ryoko, making her hair flutter in the air.

"All right, all right! What the hell's your problem?" Ryoko's sword disappeared. "It's not like he could hurt me, anyway."

"Father, please put your sword away."

Azusa growled, but complied with his daughter's wish.

Coming around from behind her father, Aeka revealed herself completely. She was in her wedding dress, as Sasami had told Tenchi. He could not help noticing she did indeed look very pretty. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

"Lord Tenchi, as you can see I'm fine." She kindly informed him. "You should not worry about me any further."

"But Aeka..."

"Lord Tenchi, there's... something I wish to tell you."

"Aeka," Azusa interrupted, "this is not appropriate."

"Oh, put a cork in it, Azusa!" Seto yelled at him from her place on a couch next to Yosho. "Let the poor girl speak."

"I may never have another chance to tell you how I feel, so... um..." Aeka tried to continue as her face blushed. "I... had hoped... that someday I would wear this... um, dress..." Aeka took a deep breath and was about to complete her confession when the elevator opened again.

"Oh, for Heaven's sake!" Aeka complained. "Now what?"

Everyone fell to the floor when Mihoshi walked out into the room.

"Oh, hi, everybody!" She took a quick look around and saw Tenchi getting back to his feet.

"Tenchi! I've been looking for you! Would you listen to this!"

Seto leaned close to Yosho.

"How did she do that?"

"It's a mystery, even to Washu." He answered.

Mihoshi went on, unaware of the questions surrounding her existence.

"I was down in the library. Oh, it's such a big library, too. Anyway, I was looking for that law about getting married on Jurai. I thought it was pret-ty weird that such a lawful society would let people marry-off their daughters without so much as a word. Anyway, the law really does exist!"

"No kidding." Aeka complained of her plight.

"No, really. But it turns out there's a way out!"

"What?!" Tenchi, Aeka, and Ryoko all exclaimed at the same time.

"Uh-huh. It's, uh... Oh! Here, I wrote it down." Mihoshi reached into a pocket and pulled out a small spiral notepad. She flipped a couple of pages and began to recite.

"In the event --" The notepad suddenly burst into flames. Mihoshi dropped it with a screech.

"Eek!"

Tenchi whirled around to face Ryoko.

"Ryoko! How could you!"

"I didn't do it!" Ryoko adamantly proclaimed her innocence.

"Well, who else could have done it?"

Ryoko pointed to her right.

"How about everybody in the room?"

Tenchi looked around and realized she was right. Everyone present had a reason to deny him the means to save Aeka from her fate. Tenchi looked down and watched Aeka's salvation go up in smoke.

"Wait a minute!" Tenchi looked to Mihoshi. "Mihoshi, you said you found that in the library, right?"

"Well, yeah."

"Can you show me?"

"Uh, yes. If I can find it again. This place is pretty big."

"All right! Let's go." He turned back to Aeka.

"Aeka, don't worry! We'll find it, and get you out of this." Tenchi grabbed Mihoshi by the hand and pulled her back into the elevator.

"Hey, Tenchi!" Ryoko called to them. "Where are you going with her?" She phased through the closing doors just in time to join them in their descent.

"But, I..." Aeka stuttered as Tenchi left on his mission. "I didn't get to tell you."

Azusa finally put away his sword.

"Misaki, continue to assist Aeka in preparing for the wedding. Seto, have the library closed."

"Father!" Aeka loudly objected.

"Silence! I'll have no more insolence from anyone! I am the King of Jurai and my orders are absolute! You will marry Seiryuu and that is final!"

Aeka ran back into the room that she had come out of, her white dress flailing about her. Misaki got up and followed without so much as glancing at her husband. Sasami went next. She stopped at her father's side.

"You're mean!" She ran to join her sister and mother.

"Azusa," Seto called to her son-in-law, "what excuse should I give for closing the library?"

"There's an improvement plan in the works. It is hereby approved."

"The money for that plan hasn't been allocated yet." she pointed out, allowing the King to make the decisions.

"Erg! Then pay for it out of the family coffers. It will be a gift from the Masaki family to the people of Jurai for their great patience with my stubborn children."

"Very well, Azusa. But I hope your children don't grow to hate you for your dedication to eliminating their stubbornness."

Seto disappeared into thin air.

Azusa turned to the remaining family member in the room.

"Yosho. You understand what I'm trying to do, don't you?"

The crown prince slowly stood.

"I feel the need for some clean air." He walked to the other door and went through it. The door shut behind him, leaving the King alone. Azusa stared blankly at the closed door.

"But, I just want to protect my family."

Ryoko patiently sat in the Great Hall of the Jurai Royal Palace, waiting for the wedding ceremony to begin. She had never been to a wedding before, and was curious. There was more royalty running around than the last time she had been in the palace. At the time they had been running for their lives, terrified. Ryoko almost laughed at the remembered image of all those royal-types running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Those days were long past. She stuck her hands behind her head and leaned back as far as she could. When her right elbow almost smacked Tenchi in the head he reminded her of his presence.

"Hey! Try to be more careful!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Tenchi." She put her arm around Tenchi's shoulders. "Did the big bad demon almost get you?" Ryoko slapped her other hand against Tenchi's chest. "Relax! Nothing's gonna happen."

Ryoko did not bother to remove her arm from its place on Tenchi's shoulders. There was no one around that would dare try to tell her to move it, except for Aeka. But now that she was getting married, she would no longer be able to get between her and Tenchi. 

Tenchi sat quietly in the next seat further from the aisle. He had been very crabby since the King of Jurai had insisted on enforcing the little known and seldom invoked law from antiquity which allowed him to choose his daughter's husband if she had not chosen of her own accord by her 21st birthday. Aeka was a princess and had her duty to the people of Jurai. At least, that's the way her father saw it.

Tenchi had not been as understanding. After his confrontation with the King, he had arrived at the library, after much searching, only to find it closed for renovations. Ryoko had marveled when her Tenchi had actually slugged the closed doors and then tried throwing around his royal authority. Unfortunately, the custodial staff apologetically explained the order to close had come from the King himself. At that, Tenchi had stalked back to his rooms and insisted on privacy until the ceremony.

A crier announced the arrival of the King and his wives, Misaki and Funaho. They sat in the seats provided for the Royal Family. In every major room or chamber in the palace, there were empty seats located in a prominent place, should any member of the family wish to sit in and participate. This chamber was no exception. 

The ceremony went as could be expected; with a great deal of pomp and circumstance. The groom, Seiryuu, looked very confident, as he waiting for the ceremony to play itself out. Aeka appeared shortly after him, escorted by her sister. Sasami wore the dress she had picked-out with Ryoko's help. It tastefully showed how much she had grown since she and Aeka had last been home. Aeka's wedding gown was a very traditional Juraian style. She was covered from head to toe in pure white. It differed from Earth gowns in that there was no veil. The lack of a veil was made up for with a hood.

The ceremony progressed slowly. Ryoko tried to assuage her boredom at one point by rubbing Tenchi's neck with the hand already on his shoulders. He seemed to like it, and actually closed his eyes. But after only a minute, he reached up and pulled her arm over his head then gently placed it at her side.

Ryoko idly wondered what would happen if someone objected to the wedding. There would probably be a huge blow-up. The idea entertained her for a moment.

The priest, or whatever version of official they used here on Jurai, finally asked aloud of the attendees.

"If there would be any who challenge the legitimacy of this marriage, speak now."

Tenchi nearly leapt from his seat.

"I would!" He boldly announced.

"Tenchi!" Katsuhito commanded his grandson's attention. "You must not interfere!"

But Tenchi had his own ideas. He turned to his grandfather.

"I'm sorry, Grandpa, but I can't let this happen."

Tenchi turned to his left to get to the aisle. He steeled himself to deal with Ryoko's molten fury. To his surprise, she only yawned tiredly and waved him on. Relieved, Tenchi slipped by into the aisle. He walked determinedly towards the altar to make his case.

Washu, on Ryoko's other side, leaned towards her daughter.

"Ryoko, dear, aren't you concerned about what's going on?"

"Nope." Ryoko replied. "I figured Tenchi would do something like this. It's not like he's going to marry her himself. Besides, I was getting bored."

Washu leaned back into her seat.

"It's funny you should say that." she said with an omniscient look.

As Tenchi advanced along the aisle, he could make out the look of pure joy on Aeka's face. To her, Tenchi was a knight in shining armor, coming to her rescue.

Tenchi reached the altar.

Seiryuu, Azusa's chosen groom, looked completely taken aback. He couldn't believe someone had actually objected to his marriage to Princess Aeka.

The wide-eyed priest addressed Tenchi.

"Your name, sir?"

"Tenchi Masaki." The young prince answered.

"You contest this marriage?" He asked.

"Yes, I do." Tenchi confirmed.

The priest turned to Jurai's King, Azusa. All eyes also turned to the King. Azusa sat upon his throne, eyeing his great-grandson. Strangely, though, he was grinning from ear to ear. Next to him, his second wife, Misaki, smiled and waved to Tenchi as if in thanks. The King loudly cleared his throat.

"Tenchi has challenged Seiryuu for the hand of my daughter, Princess Aeka. Once given, a challenge may not be rescinded. Let it stand."

Katsuhito seemed deep in contemplation.

Nobuyuki stood up, shouting. "Atta boy, Tenchi!" Tears of pride streamed down his face.

"This is so romantic!" Mihoshi blubbered into a handkerchief. 

Aeka still seemed to be seeing white knights on horses.

Sasami, the maid of honor, giggled playfully.

Tenchi's eyes crossed, losing focus. "Uhh..."

"Told you so." Washu whispered to Ryoko.

**"THE HELL IT WILL!" **Ryoko shouted across the hall. The look of molten fury Tenchi had been expecting a moment ago exploded in full force. Ryoko literally flew from her seat. Flying up the aisle, she nearly bowled over Sasami in her haste to get between Tenchi and his unintended bride. She landed directly in front of Tenchi, facing Aeka and her father with her arms outstretched, defiance incarnate.

"There's no way Tenchi can go along with this stupid challenge! He's already promised to spend the rest of his life with me." Ryoko turned to Tenchi and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Tell them, Tenchi." she demanded of him. But Ryoko's overly protective grasp on Tenchi's neck cut off his air supply. Tenchi struggled to break the unbreakable strength in Ryoko's superhuman arms. She did not seem to notice his difficulty breathing.

The voice of Aeka's most prominent rival finally broke through her delusions of heroic chivalry.

"Miss Ryoko! How dare you interfere!" Striking a haughty pose, Aeka continued. "Why would Lord Tenchi spend his remaining days with a monster, when he could have a beautiful princess like me? Ahh, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!"

Ryoko bristled at Aeka's use of the word "monster". She turned back to Aeka, releasing her grip on Tenchi, who fell to his hands and knees, sucking in air by the lungful.

"There's a saying on Earth. 'Beauty is only skin deep.' I guess Tenchi sees you for what you really are."

Aeka froze in mid-laugh. She tensed for a moment, fuming.

"At least my skin doesn't have wrinkles big enough for a truck to drive through."

Ryoko walked right up to Aeka.

"You should talk. You're wearing so much cover-up, you look like a mime."

"A... A mime!?" Aeka stuttered. "I have had it with your insolence! Azaka! Kamidake! Ryoko, you really are a fool if you think you can get the best of me here. In this palace, my every whim is reality! Ahh, ho, ho, ho, ho!" The princess confidently laughed again.

"Is that so?" Ryoko challenged. "Let's see how you like this reality, Princess." Energy began to crackle in the air around the rivals.

Seiryuu ran and hid. Finally catching his breath, Tenchi jumped between them.

"Would you two try to be serious about this?"

"I am serious." The girls answered him simultaneously.

"Yeah, right." Tenchi mumbled to himself. "Look, I don't know anything about this challenge. But I do know making Aeka get married against her will is wrong."

"But, Tenchi," Ryoko forgot about whatever destructive assault she had been planning. "If you go through with this you'll have to marry Aeka!"

Tenchi put his hands on Ryoko's arms. 

"Ryoko, I have to do something." He tried to explain. "Everything will work out. You'll see." Ryoko was not comforted by his words.

"How will it be all right?" She pleaded. "Don't you understand what I'm saying?" Tears began to brim in Ryoko's feline-like eyes.

"Ryoko..." Tenchi asked. "What do you mean?"

"I..." Ryoko took a step back as panic seemed to take hold of her. She shut her eyes tight and shot straight into the air, disappearing just before hitting the chapel's vaulted ceiling.

"Ryoko..." Tenchi looked up, worried.

There was a collective sigh of relief as Ryoko left the building. Before anyone could react further, Azusa called to Tenchi.

"Tenchi, as the challenger, you may choose a champion first."

"Your Highness," Tenchi turned to the King. "What exactly is this challenge?"

Exercising great patience, Azusa answered Tenchi.

"The challenge is a duel. You, or a champion of your choosing, must fight until there is a clear victor. The winner will marry Aeka. The duel will take place tomorrow at noon. Therefore, you must choose a champion immediately so that the combatants may prepare."

Tenchi thought for a moment.

_"Now I've done it. Not only is Aeka in a tight spot, but so am I. Even worse, Ryoko's upset. No choice, I guess."_

"I will fight for myself." Tenchi announced. The guests murmured their approval.

As if by magic, Seiryuu reappeared next to Aeka. She started, and almost smacked him for it.

"My turn to choose, I suppose. Let's see... Tenchi is a very skilled adversary so I should pick someone even more skilled. Oh, dear, that will be difficult. Hmm... Let's see. Who to pick? Who to pick? Ah!" Seiryuu's face lit up as he came to an answer. "I should pick the strongest, most skilled warrior in attendance. And who better to represent the future King of Jurai than", he paused dramatically, "the Crown Prince Yosho!"

Even this did not seem to phase Katsuhito. His only reaction was a single phrase.

"I see."

Azusa's grin became a face-splitting smile.

END.

AFTERWORD: nai.


	3. Grudge Match

****

INVASION Volume 1, Part 3: Grudge Match.

DISCLAIMER: "TENCHI MUYO!" is copyright AIC/Pioneer, LDC. I claim no rights to any of the characters. However, the events portrayed in this work are of my own imagination, so please don't copy it. Feel free to disseminate as widely as possible.

FOREWORD:

Originally, this part consisted of two shorter parts: the rooftop scene and the challenge scene. Both were rather short (for me), so I mashed them together and lengthened the scene in the Arboretum. I seem to recall there is another name for that holiest of holy places, but, in my opinion, it was rather uninspired, so I changed it. Arboretum sounds just about right.

AUTHOR: Dreamr

LAST REVISION: 06 February 2003

EMAIL: TrueDreamr@Hotmil.com

BEGIN.

Tenchi emerged from the blackness of the dimensional hole Washu had provided so that he could access the roof of the Jurai Imperial Palace. The palace roof was a broad expanse of wooden material nestled within the highest branches of the Tree of Heaven. In the darkness of night, it was difficult to tell what kind of wood the roof was made from, but it looked like the same wood removed from the tree when the palace had been carved into it.

Looking through the soft glow of the city lights around him, Tenchi spotted Ryoko a short way down on the side of the curved dome, sitting by herself. She sat with her knees to her chest, apparently unaware of his presence. Carefully, Tenchi climbed up onto the roof.

"So this is where you went." Tenchi said by way of greeting as he approached. "I figured you'd be up here."

"You shouldn't be up here." Ryoko warned without looking at the young prince. "You could fall off."

Tenchi seemed unconcerned.

"Well, if I did I'm sure you would catch me." Tenchi rationalized as he sat down to Ryoko's right. She turned her face away so he would not be able to see the telltale redness that showed she had been crying.

"Ryoko," Tenchi continued. "I'm really sorry about all of this. I had no idea something like this was going to happen." He paused to see if she were responding to his explanation yet. Her lack of involvement seemed to indicate not, so he continued on.

"I really don't want to fight against Grandpa. And I know I'm not ready to get married. I guess I really messed things up, huh?"

"You did what you had to do." Ryoko finally answered.

Tenchi sighed in relief.

"I'm glad you understand."

Suddenly, Ryoko turned to face Tenchi.

"That doesn't mean I like it!" She shouted in his face.

Tenchi pulled back, his eyes wide. Ryoko looked away again, suddenly remorseful of her outburst.

"I'm sorry." Tenchi said again. There was a long pause before either could think of anything to say to the other.

"What are you going to do now?" she asked.

"I don't really know." Tenchi said, scratching his head. "We'll figure something out."

Instead of calming Ryoko as he had intended, Tenchi's words seemed only to distress her more. Once again, she turned and yelled at him.

"How can you say that? What if you win, huh? Will you marry that stuck-up princess and live happily ever after?"

Tenchi stared at Ryoko in confusion. She was taking this much harder than he had thought she would.

"What about me, Tenchi? Don't you care how I feel?" Tears began to well in her eyes again.

"Ryoko..." Tenchi stuttered. "I... um... well, uh... how do you feel?"

Ryoko looked at Tenchi in shock. He had never asked her how she felt about him. She had always assumed her actions made her feelings for Tenchi clear. Realizing she now had the opportunity to tell Tenchi exactly how she felt about him, she locked-up. Tenchi patiently sat, waiting for an answer.

The sky overhead suddenly bloomed with light. They both turned to see the start of the fireworks that were meant to celebrate the royal wedding. In all the excitement, apparently nobody had thought to cancel them.

"They're beautiful." Tenchi admired the explosive display. But Ryoko had already returned her gaze to Tenchi. The reflected colors in his eyes paled in comparison to the upwelling of emotions in her heart. Now that his attention was directed upwards instead of at her, she felt more comfortable telling him how she felt. But first things first. The ex-pirate moved closer to Tenchi, leaning into the crook of his arm and chest.

Sensing that Ryoko's action meant nothing other than a need for comfort, Tenchi put his arm around her shoulders to show her she was welcome there. His face colored slightly at the realization that he held a beautiful girl in his arms. He had never voluntarily let Ryoko get this close before, as if he had been expecting something really bad to happen. Yet, nothing did. The only thing odd was Ryoko. He could feel the stress in her shoulders. She was so tense it was almost tangible. Wanting to say something to ease her tension, but not knowing what, he simply kept silent, trusting her to tell him when she was ready to do so.

The tightness in Ryoko's chest grew. Slowly, so as not to scare Tenchi away, she moved her hand up to his neck.

Thinking things were getting a little too close, Tenchi started to object.

"Ryoko..." he began. Before he could finish, Ryoko grabbed hold tight and whispered into his ear.

"I love you."

In a different part of the palace, Washu was deep into her research on Royal Trees. She suddenly felt as if something were different. Taking a look around, she saw only the dark vertical shaft of the arboretum and the unnamed royal trees that it housed, around her. Out of habit, she carefully read the links she shared with Ryo-o-ki and Ryoko.

The warm fuzzy feeling from Ryo-o-ki meant she was probably playing with Sasami.

On the other hand, Ryoko had gotten good at dampening the link to hide herself from casual observation. Washu pushed a little, just enough to take a peek. She almost dropped her tools.

_"Nothing wrong there."_ For once Washu decided to respect her daughter's privacy. The number one genius scientist in the universe resumed her work, letting the link fade to its normal intensity.

_"Good girl."_ She said to herself. _"But it sure took you long enough."_

On the palace roof, Tenchi was flabbergasted. He tried to convince himself Ryoko meant love in a platonic sense. But, given the current circumstances, her state of mind, and the romantic setting, there was no way. His first instinct was to downplay what she had said. But, looking at the cyan-haired beauty, he realized that he would destroy every shred of humanity Ryoko had discovered within herself if he simply rejected her. Not to mention the palace.

"Ryoko, do you really mean that? For real? Like, long-term real?"

Ryoko looked down.

"You don't believe me." She sounded very disappointed.

Quickly, Tenchi reassured her that wasn't the case.

"No, no, no! That's not what I meant! It's just... I have to be sure."

She looked back up at him. They shared an awkward moment where neither of them seemed to know how to proceed. Tenchi truly felt she deserved an honest response. It was not every day that Ryoko admitted something so personal. But he knew that mentioning to her that he also had Aeka's feelings to consider, probably would not be a good idea. Then again, it was not Aeka he was talking to at the moment. He could hardly look at her to tell her the truth. The way she was still expectantly looking into his eyes sent lances of guilt stabbing through his chest.

"_Jeez, this sucks." _Tenchi thought to himself before taking a deep breath.

"Ryoko, I won't lie to you and tell you something that isn't true, yet."

Ryoko released her grip on Tenchi's neck. She leaned back on her hands, trying to consider what Tenchi had said. She had expected him to dismiss her entirely. In fact, she had been scared to death of it. To hope for such an outcome would have been preposterous. Then it hit her. The force that always carried Tenchi through so much had done the same for her! Hope had carried her, too. Tenchi himself had said it. She had not missed his slip. There was one thing she could count on with Tenchi. If he said something, he meant it. Ryoko closed her golden eyes and smiled.

"Ryoko?" Tenchi tentatively asked.

"All right." She answered. "I can accept that."

"Oh, thank God." Tenchi sighed in relief. 

"Don't thank the gods yet, Tenchi." Ryoko smirked. For the rest of the evening, she would be content to watch the fireworks with the man she loved.

Too soon, it seemed the brilliant display was over. Tenchi stood with a groan. The stiffness in his legs was making itself known. He reached down to Ryoko, offering her a hand up. She put her hand in his with a smile and pulled.

As Ryoko rose, Tenchi caught a glimpse of something small and shiny flying towards them from the darkness beyond. Thinking quickly, he pushed Ryoko to the side. Something penetrated his left shoulder. It did not hurt as much as he had been expecting. 

Ryoko objected to the rough treatment.

"What the hell was that for?"

Tenchi looked where the shot had come from. It was too dark to make out any details.

"Someone shot at us." He explained.

From her seated position, Ryoko looked in the same direction as Tenchi. Her keen eyesight picked out a dark shape running towards the edge of the palace roof.

"Bastard!" She angrily growled.

Ryoko's combat senses came alive. She sighted in on the assassin and let loose a terrific blast from her right hand. The energy bolt screamed across the distance, leaving a blackened scorch trail as it sailed across the wooden rooftop. The shot detonated on target, instantly annihilating everything within 50 meters, including the roof.

"That's what you get."

"Damn." Tenchi complained. Ryoko looked to see him scratching at his shoulder. She floated over to inspect his wound. Without a second thought, she tore the sleeve from his shirt, then gasped at the angry red lines that radiated from the small puncture wound. Tenchi fainted at the first sight of it.

"Tenchi!" Ryoko cried. Of all the emotions she had come to experience these past few years, she had ones she liked and ones she disliked. The one she felt now was her least favorite: panic. At the top of her mental lungs, she called for help.

_"MOM!"_

The mental call was so strong Washu nearly dropped her instruments again. She could even hear the call echoing through the other mental links.

On their way back from watching the fireworks, Aeka, Sasami, Ryo-o-ki, and the two guardians, Azaka, and Kamidake were just arriving at the royal chambers. Their mother had insisted to Azusa that their daughters needed some time to relax and that they should be allowed to move about freely again. When he agreed, Aeka had politely thanked her father for his consideration, then promptly left with her sister and the others in attendance.

At the moment, Sasami was serving as a transport for Ryo-o-ki as she slept on the princess's head. The fuzzy creature awoke with a start.

"Myaaaah!"

Concerned, they all stopped.

"What's the matter, Ryo-chan?" Sasami asked. Ryo-o-ki jumped to the floor.

"Myeow! Mya mya mya my mya myow!" Came the cabbit's reply as she started running at top speed back the way they had come. Sasami looked to her sister.

"Aeka?"

Aeka seemed just as surprised as her little sister. 

"She does seem rather upset. Perhaps we had better follow. There may be trouble."

"Mm." Sasami agreed.

They both hurried after Ryo-o-ki. The two guardians flew close behind.

"The fun never stops, does it, Azaka?"

"Indeed."

Far off in space, someone else heard the call. Aboard her ship, a young female pirate was trying to decide which trade route to stake out next. The call was faint, but definitely there. The ship's computer noticed she was no longer paying attention to the star chart.

"Is everything all right?"

Without answering, the pirate altered her display to show a certain course. The result was less than satisfactory.

"Jurai? Why would she be there?"

"Who is on Jurai?" The computer queried.

"Ryoko." She answered thoughtfully. This girl knew first-hand how strong Ryoko could be when she wanted. Anything that could put her in a near panic must be serious. Perhaps this was a sign that it was time for a visit.

"Set a course for Jurai." She ordered.

The computer did not seem to think this was a good idea and said so.

"Is that a good idea? We are pirates, after all."

"Yeah, yeah. I know. We'll just have to sneak in, that's all."

"And how will we do that?"

"Hmmm." The captain mentally examined a list of recently stolen booty.

"Oh! I've got it. Didn't we, ah, acquire... some fancy new toys from that corporate big-shot transport last week?"

The computer nearly rebooted itself.

"Oh, no. You cannot be serious." It begged of its master. "Please don't do this to me."

"Hee, hee! Oh, yes!"

Back in the halls of the royal palace, Washu sent her reply through the link.

__

"Ryoko, what's wrong?"

"Tenchi's hurt!"

"Teleport here." Washu answered, sending a mental image of her current location. Using this method, Ryoko could use the image to teleport to the location as if she had actually been there before. Ingenious!

Before Washu could fully congratulate herself on her work, even though she had not planned it, Ryoko appeared beside her, holding Tenchi upright. She blurted out her story in one big string.

"Some guy shot at us on the roof and Tenchi saved me but he got hit and I think it's poison!"

Washu tried to absorb all the information Ryoko presented. She could see Tenchi's arm, and so focused her attention there.

"Looks bad, doesn't it?" She started tapping commands into her keyboard. A hole appeared in space just above Washu. An assortment of instruments on a tray floated out. Washu reached up and took a device in each hand. She passed the device in her right hand over Tenchi's arm a couple of times. She held the other one ready to administer an antidote. The diagnostic device bleeped. Washu looked at her monitor to verify the diagnosis. Then she looked a second time.

"That's odd." Washu said looking at the results more carefully.

"What? Would you just fix him, already!?" Ryoko snapped, growing more impatient by the second.

"Now, now." Washu scolded. She dropped the left device back on the tray and took another. "Human medicine is a delicate thing. If I were to shoot him up with the wrong drug, it could kill Tenchi instead of helping him."

By the horribly pathetic look on Ryoko's face, Washu could tell her attempt at medical humor was not appreciated. The little doctor dropped the diagnostic tool back onto the tray so she could adjust the new instrument with both hands. Washu tried to give Ryoko something else to think about.

"So. What exactly were you and Tenchi doing out on the palace roof, together?"

Ryoko dropped Tenchi Flop thump and grabbed Washu by the collar, lifting her off her feet.

"I thought I told you to quit spying on me!" She gave Washu a good shake to illustrate the point. Still holding her a foot off the ground, Ryoko turned and then dropped Washu almost on top of Tenchi.

"Now get back to work!"

"We need to work on your communication skills." Washu muttered as she righted herself, brushing the dust from her clothes. She waved a hand and a medical table rose up from the floor underneath Tenchi, who seemed to be recovering from his earlier faint and the rapid descent from five feet up.

"Just one more thing, dear." Washu asked of Ryoko who was sternly glaring at her. "You said someone shot at you."

"Yeah, so?"

"What happened to the assassin?"

"He won't be home for dinner." Ryoko gave her smug response.

"If you had left him intact, I could have analyzed his memories and discovered where he was from and who sent him. Next time, try to leave something for me to work with."

Despite the admonishment, Washu was concerned for her daughter. There were too many incidents occurring to attribute them to coincidence. Especially considering this latest development. The little scientist decided her research on the space trees might have to be postponed as she passed the freshly adjusted device over Tenchi's arm.

"Ryoko, someone tried to kill you, and you defended yourself. There's nothing wrong with that."

Ryoko did not disagree with Washu's reassurances. But neither did she totally agree. When she had learned the difference between right and wrong, she had also realized just how terrible a person Kagato really was. It was then that she had rejected her past. Killing someone brought a bad feeling to her stomach. She was still considering this when one of Washu's words suddenly jumped out at her.

"Wait a minute. What do you mean 'tried to kill ME'? Tenchi's the one who got hurt!"

"You're going to have to thank him for saving you life." Washu elaborated. "He took a shot that was meant for you."

Ryoko still looked confused.

"But I'm immune to poison."

Washu had her explanation all prepared.

"Ah, but Tenchi hasn't been poisoned!" She announced as if she had just revealed the Secret of the Universe. "The tissue damage was caused by a Nano-robot infection. The 'bots were tailor made for your cellular structure. When they activated in an environment they were not programmed for, they became confused and attacked Tenchi's nervous system. Since they weren't equipped to handle his cells, they couldn't do very much damage. He was never in any real danger. It just looked bad."

Washu beamed triumphantly at her daughter. Ryoko blankly stared back at her, completely lost. Put off, Washu tried another tack.

"Well, how about this then? If you had been hit instead of Tenchi, the infected cells would have started attacking the uninfected ones. You would have died in minutes, with a resultant explosion which would have destroyed the entire planet."

"Okay..."

Seeing that her daughter seemed to understand this, Washu continued.

"What concerns me is how someone knows so much about you. If they knew enough to create nano-bots capable of this, they must have known about the consequences."

"Hmmm..." Both Washu and Ryoko thought to themselves.

Tenchi's eyes flipped open as he finally awoke. He sat up with a groan.

"Ugh. What's going on?"

Washu decided her cute voice might relieve a little of the tension.

"Oh, Tenchi! I'm so glad you're okay!"

Tenchi looked at his arm. The redness and itching had substantially subsided. When he tried flexing his hand, it obeyed, albeit, slowly.

"Thank you for helping me. I'm sorry I'm such a bother."

"Oh, no trouble at all." The child-like scientist assured him. "We like putting you back together, again. Don't we, little Ryoko?"

Ryoko elbowed Washu in the side of the head so she could reach Tenchi to give him a hug. His eyes bulged out when she squeezed a little too hard.

"Thank you so much for saving me!" She over-dramatically thanked him.

"Sure." Tenchi managed to gasp.

Aeka and company stood in front of a towering portal door. She could not believe what she had just seen. Ryo-o-ki had just phased through the most powerfully shielded door in the entire Jurai Empire.

"This is impossible! No one can go through that door! I can't even go in there without permission. How could Lord Tenchi possibly be in there?"

Azaka offered a possibility.

"Perhaps it has something to do with Lord Tenchi's Jurai heritage."

Kamidake added another possibility.

"Or maybe it was because he has the Light Hawk Wings. In either case, I'm detecting no shielding energy present."

Aeka refused to accept their offerings.

"But this room is protected by the power of Tsunami, herself!"

Someone tugged on Aeka's sleeve. Looking down, she saw it was Sasami.

"Um, hi!" Sasami waved at her sister.

Aeka suddenly remembered something rather important.

"Oh! That's right. I'd forgotten."

"Shouldn't we get going?" Sasami urged Aeka to continue through the doors.

"Yes, of course. How poor of me to be distracted so easily. Azaka, Kamidake, open the doors, please."

"Right away, Highness." The two guardians chimed. Their considerable bulk drifted to the doors and pushed. The immense doors split, revealing the innermost chamber of the palace where the unnamed Royal Trees were kept. It was a place commonly referred to as the arboretum.

Perched on the upper level, Ryo-o-ki was looking around, wondering where to go next.

"Mya?"

The doors opened behind her, admitting the royal princesses and their guardians. They saw Ryo-o-ki as she peered over the edge of the walkway.

"Ryo-o-ki, wait for us!" Sasami called as she and Aeka finally caught up. They joined the little creature in looking down. The height was dizzying, but they could still make out the bottom from the other platforms suspended in the chamber. Though the details were difficult to see in the dim light, she could see three figures at the bottom.

"Tenchi!" Sasami called, waving. Only Washu waved back. Ryoko was busy with Tenchi. Tenchi was unable to answer because Ryoko had his arms pinned to his sides.

"Big sister..." Sasami began to suggest they continue own. She looked over her shoulder, but Aeka was already using the transport pad that would take them closer to the bottom. There was a flash of white light when she stepped on the pad, and then she was gone.

The guardians flew off the platform with due haste, trying to keep up with their charge.

"Princess, please wait for us!" Kamidake called to Aeka.

Little Sasami picked up Ryo-o-ki.

"Let's go." When they entered the pad, the light swallowed them, as well.

As soon as Aeka reappeared at the bottom, she hurried to Tenchi's side. Not only to ensure his safety, but to protect him from Ryoko's advances.

"Ryoko! Release Lord Tenchi at once!" Aeka berated the woman for her behavior. When she noticed the redness in Tenchi's arm, she shoved Ryoko aside to get a better look.

"Tenchi, you're hurt!"

Tenchi scratched the back of his head.

"Uh, yeah. Heh. Well, somebody shot at us on the roof and I guess I wasn't quick enough. But, I'm all right now. Really."

Sasami and Ryo-o-ki materialized on the same transport pad Aeka had used moments ago. They also followed the most direct route to Tenchi.

"I'm so relieved you're not harmed. But what were you doing on the palace roof?" Aeka asked.

"On the roof? Uhh..." Tenchi did not seem to want to answer Aeka's question.

"Oh, Tenchi!" Sasami greeted him. "What's going on?"

"I wish I knew." He replied, avoiding Aeka's question.

From behind him, Ryoko wrapped her arms around Tenchi.

"Don't be shy, Tenchi. Tell the little princess what we were doing on the roof, alone." She mischievously smiled.

"Ryoko." Aeka accused the floating girl. "You just can't seem to stay out of... wait a moment." She paused. "What do you mean 'alone'?"

Ryoko continued smiling at Aeka, hoping her rival would make the mental connection she was looking for. The connection closed. Aeka turned red.

"How DARE you try to steal my fiancée!?"

"Um, excuse me..." Tenchi tried to clarify the fact that they were not actually engaged, but Aeka ignored his interruption.

"You..." She stuttered. "You over-sexed, b-grade, movie monster!"

Ryoko stopped smiling.

"What did you just call me?"

"Don't make me repeat myself." Aeka refused to repeat the name. She looked away, as if her rival were no longer important. Ryoko leaned across the medical table.

"Instead of Tenchi and his grandfather, maybe it should be you and me fighting tomorrow."

"Excuse me, ladies?" Tenchi interrupted again. "I don't think there's going to be a fight."

Both Aeka and Ryoko looked at Tenchi, their eyes wide.

"Look." He showed them his hand. "I can barely close my hand. How can I fight against anyone, let alone Grandpa?"

"Tenchi's right." Washu agreed. "While I was able to stop the nano-robots, they still caused some damage. The best treatment is to let Tenchi's body repair the damage itself. The human nervous system is very delicate, after all. He'll be back to normal in a couple days."

Aeka was thunderstruck. Her dreams came crashing down around her like broken glass. In her mind, there stood Ryoko, rocks in hand.

"No, no, no, no, NO!" She cried, shaking her head. "This can't be happening!" Aeka grabbed Tenchi by the shirt collar. "Pick a champion." She demanded of him. "There's still time. If I explain to father what happened I know he'll accept the change!"

"I guess... but, I don't know anyone who I could ask. Unless..." Tenchi looked at Ryoko. Everyone looked at Ryoko. Aeka looked sick.

"Me?" Ryoko asked, pointing at herself. "Oh, hell no! No way! I won't do it." She stubbornly looked away.

Tenchi did not want to ask Ryoko to do this. But, once again, he seemed to have little choice. There was no one else to ask. He slid off the table and put his hands on Ryoko's shoulders.

"Ryoko, Aeka needs our help. If we don't help her, she'll be forced to marry someone she doesn't even know. I tried to help her myself, but I failed. Please, help Aeka. Take my place tomorrow."

Ryoko could not believe what she was hearing. She was pleased Tenchi wanted her to fight for him. But she hated the reason why. Even worse, Tenchi was giving her The Look. It was the look that meant something was really important to him. Ryoko could feel her willpower crumbling. Her gaze settled on the redness of the arm he had injured saving her life, yet again. She closed her eyes.

"All right." Ryoko finally acquiesced.

Washu seemed pleased. Sasami jumped into the air.

"Yay, Ryoko!"

Ryo-o-ki imitated Sasami as best she could.

"Mya!"

"I'm doomed." Aeka groaned.

"I knew I could count on you." Tenchi thanked Ryoko. Opening her eyes, Ryoko looked back at Tenchi.

"I'm only doing it because you asked me to. I couldn't care less about Aeka."

"Sure." Tenchi acknowledged, smiling.

"Lord Tenchi, how can you entrust my future to a woman who makes a living out of getting into trouble?" Aeka's train of thought quickly changed tracks. "And speaking of trouble, I would like to know how the three of you got in here."

Washu went first, followed by Ryoko.

"The door was open, so I invited myself in for a peek."

"Teleportation." Ryoko stated.

"The door was... open?" Aeka asked in shock.

"Sure." Washu confirmed. "I thought it was going to be difficult to get in here. You really ought to put a guard on the door, or at least an alarm."

"Sasami," Aeka called her sister. "Remind me to have guards posted at the door."

"Right." Sasami answered.

"Where are we?" Tenchi asked, looking around.

"This is the Arboretum. Normally, no one is allowed access to this room, as the Royal Trees are grown here."

"So this is what Kagato was after." Ryoko remarked. "Hmm. Hey, Aeka. Which one is Tsunami?"

"I don't know." Aeka stubbornly refused to answer. "And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. Very few people have ever been down to this level." Looking around, Aeka realized there were actually quite a few people present already.

"In fact, I believe this is more people than have ever been here in all of history."

Aeka herself had never been to this level. She looked around, just as curiously inspecting her surroundings as Ryoko was. The entire chamber rose up in a vertical column. The walls were simply constructed of the wood the chamber had been carved out of. Above, there were many circular platforms sticking out of the walls. From beneath, they looked like the backsides of hand mirrors. Aeka knew that on each platform stood a tree. In some cases, a tree would be missing; indicating it had been bonded with one of the Royal Family. Aeka noticed that there was a place for a tree here which had nothing standing where the tree should be.

"Oh!" Aeka approached the place. It looked like a baseball pitcher's mound, only larger.

"This must be where mothers Misaki and Funaho were bonded to their trees."

Tenchi was the first to join her, followed by Ryoko and Ryo-o-ki, who was now toddling around as a small girl.

"Do they share a tree?" Tenchi asked.

"No. Mother told me the story once. She said she and Lady Funaho were called simultaneously, which has never occurred before. When they reached this location, they found a double tree. Some believe the seed that was planted here split and grew into two trees. Others say they are the physical manifestation of Yin and Yang. Whatever the case, mothers Misaki and Funaho were the first to be allowed to this level. They named their trees Karin and Mizuho, respectively."

"That's nice." Ryoko quipped disrespectfully. "Hey, Sasami. Which one's... huh?" Realizing Sasami was no longer among them, Ryoko looked around for the little girl. She found her staring at a short, broad-leafed tree, surrounded by water, near the wall. Joining Sasami, she reiterated her question.

"Is this the one?"

"Yes." Sasami answered with a far-off look in her eyes.

"Hah!" Ryoko flew over the water and landed at the base of the little tree. "Well, I may be seven hundred years too late, but I found it!"

"Don't even think about it!" Aeka raced to the water's edge and bellowed at Ryoko. "I swear if you try to steal that tree I'll make you suffer!"

"Bwah, ha ha ha ha ha!" Ryoko laughed maniacally just to get Aeka's goat. She bravely put her hand against the side of the tree, fully expecting something interesting to happen. After a couple of seconds, there was nothing. As far as Ryoko could tell, it was just a tree. Puzzled, she phased her arm completely through the trunk and waved her hand on the other side.

Aeka screeched in shock, then passed out. Tenchi reached Aeka just in time to catch her as she collapsed.

"Ryoko, why do you have to tease Aeka like that?" He admonished Ryoko with a scowl.

"Oh, come one, Tenchi. I'm just playing. What would I do with a Royal Tree? Besides, I think this is just a normal tree."

Washu joined them next to the pool of water.

"I agree. Last time I checked, Tsunami was right here." She put her hand on Sasami's shoulder, causing her to look down in embarrassment.

Ryoko took a quick walk around the tree, just to see if there was anything unusual about it. She got a big surprise when she found Mihoshi sound asleep with her head against one of the roots.

"What the... Hey, bubble-brain!" The others watched in amazement as Mihoshi arose from behind the tree. She stretched her arms high into the air and yawned.

"Ohhhhh... Mmmm. What a great nap. It was so nice and comfy in here I just couldn't help myself. I hope nobody minds."

Ignoring Mihoshi for the moment, Tenchi reached into the pool and wet his fingers. He splashed a few droplets on Aeka's face to rouse her.

"Wha? Oh, dear. I must have ah!" She realized Tenchi had her in his arms. "Lord Tenchi! You mustn't! Oh! But now that we are engaged..." She let the sentence hang. She could pour it on just as thick as Ryoko when she wanted to. Aeka prided herself on her attempts at gaining Tenchi's attention being more adult and sophisticated than Ryoko's grotesquely flirtatious behavior. She let her eyelids float halfway between open and closed.

"You keep that up, princess, and I just might lose on purpose!" Ryoko yelled from across the water.

Aeka looked over to see Ryoko holding a bound and gagged Mihoshi in the air with one hand and a freshly stripped switch in the other. Mihoshi kicked and mumbled over a small pile of green leaves.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!" Aeka burst from Tenchi's embrace to give her arch-rival a thorough thrashing. "You fiend! How could you!" Ryoko stepped aside as Aeka, in full combat dress, jetted through the spot she had just been occupying. Dropping Mihoshi and the switch to the ground, she summoned her sword.

"All right! Stress relief! Hah!" She bared her fangs as her opponent spun around in mid-air.

Aeka was about to launch a devastating energy attack when she noticed someone she did not normally see standing at the edge of the pool.

"Tsunami." She released the power she was using as a gesture of respect and immediately fell into the water. Ryoko snickered as Aeka dragged herself onto the island, coughing and sputtering.

"This is all your fault!" Aeka accused her.

Tenchi and Washu jumped back when they noticed Sasami had been replaced by her alter ego. Ryo-o-ki lost her balance and fell backwards, reverting to her cabbit form. Tsunami smiled at them.

"It's quite all right, Princess Aeka. As Washu said, that tree no longer holds my essence. It truly is just an ordinary tree, now."

"But that doesn't mean someone can just go stripping limbs from it!" Aeka firmly insisted.

"It's not like I took a whole branch off!" Ryoko retorted. "God, you'd think it was the end of the world or something."

"Mm-mm-mmr." Mihoshi mumbled from the ground.

"But this place is holy! It's sacrilege to harm any living thing, here!"

To Aeka's surprise, Tsunami giggled.

"Aeka, you take yourself so seriously. If Ryoko had meant to harm one of the Royal Trees, it would have acted to defend itself."

"Well, then." Washu jumped in. "Does that mean I can take a sample from that tree?" She pointed at the tree the others were standing next to.

Tsunami nodded.

"I see a small pile of fresh leaves on the ground." She suggested to the scientist.

"Whee!" Washu leapt across the water in a single bound. She quickly vacuumed up the leaves into some sort of suction device that miraculously appeared in her hands. Picking up the switch as well, Washu held them both to her chest, a huge cat-like grin on her face.

"It's gonna be a hot time in the old lab, tonight!" She said before disappearing without a trace.

Tsunami giggled madly.

Aeka knuckled her forehead, trying to keep an oncoming migraine at bay.

"I can't believe this. A goddess without reverence."

"Hey." Ryoko suddenly called to Tsunami. "I've got a question for you."

"Will wonders never cease?" Aeka mumbled.

"Shut up, you!" Ryoko shot back as she flew back across the water. Once she reached the other side, she began her inquiry.

"When I was up in that tree the other day I heard a voice. Who was it?"

Tsunami smiled at her.

"It seems you've found a new friend."

Without warning, Tsunami transformed into a billowing column of cherry blossoms. They floated away on an unfelt breeze, leaving Sasami behind where Tsunami had been only moments before. She blearily looked up at Ryoko.

"I'm sleepy."

Ryo-o-ki, looking like a child once more, took Sasami's hand and began to lead her back to the telepad.

"Mya."

Aeka leapt across the small expanse of water and stood by her sister's other side.

"Yes, of course. It is getting rather late. Everyone out! This place is off-limits! No more visits, experiments, or naps. We all have much to do tomorrow, and I want everyone well rested."

Taking the lead in this very holy place, Aeka shepherded her comrades back to the telepad and out of the arboretum for some well-deserved sleep.

The big event had arrived. A large arena in the Capitol City had been arranged for this rare occurrence. Though not a part of the palace, the arena was the largest in the capitol. It frequently hosted major sporting events and entertainment figures.

Like most other large buildings on Jurai, the arena was domed, with several smaller outbuildings. The parking areas were full. People flocked to the entrances. Even on such short notice, people from all over the planet had dropped their affairs to see the spectacle.

The arena interior was a basic stadium setup. The center area housed the arena floor itself, which had been stripped down to basic stone flooring for the event. Circling around the ceiling were the enclosed box seats. The central and largest was reserved for the Royal Family, whose banner hung from the exterior.

An announcer's voice blared over the stadium sound system, acquainting the onlookers with the background of the events about to unfold. The male voice described how the challenge system had been used for thousands of years to allow the empire's pirate history and background to be maintained without the death and destruction that would surely have weakened the empire to the point of disaster.

Beneath the seats, in the guts of the stadium, the combatants were making final preparations. Tenchi strode through the stadium hallway. He pulled at the neck of his shirt, loosening it so it was more comfortable. The servants assigned to him (that had taken some getting used to) had assured him he must look like a challenging prince or the King would be embarrassed. Tenchi did not want to embarrass the King. Azusa had graciously accepted the last minute change. He had also not said anything about the big hole in the palace roof.

The whole thing seemed ridiculous to Tenchi, except for the assassin. It was not surprising someone wanted revenge against Ryoko for the destruction she had wrought during her attack seven hundred years ago. Still, there was too much going on. He could not wait to get back home where it was quiet and peaceful (relatively speaking).

Tenchi realized he had reached his destination: Ryoko's dressing room. To each side of the door stood an imposing Juraian guard.

"I'm he to see Ryoko." He announced himself.

Before the guards could react, Ryoko's head popped through the door.

"Tenchi!" She squealed, coming completely through the door. She grabbed Tenchi's arm and pulled him back through, making him look like he was drowning in the surface of the door as a sprite pulled him under.

In her dressing room, Ryoko gave Tenchi a big hug.

"Tenchi, you're so sweet to check up on me!"

"Whoa! You're sure in a good mood." Disengaging himself, Tenchi suspiciously eyed the girl. Ryoko was wearing the same dress she had on the day she attacked him at his school.

"Tenchi, do you like what you see?" Ryoko asked seductively.

Tenchi realized he was staring. The object of his attention giggled in a low, throaty manner that meant she was thinking inappropriate thoughts.

"It's the same dress I wore the day we met. I know you remember." 

"_Bingo!"_ Tenchi thought. "_She's getting to know me too well."_

Ryoko brought a hand to the neck of her dress.

"If you like, I can take it off."

"No! I mean..." He stuttered. "I came to see you for a different reason."

"Oh?" Ryoko put her hand on her hip. "What reason is that?"

"Oh. Um... well..." Tenchi seemed a little embarrassed. "I wanted... to wish you luck. And..."

"And...?" Ryoko prompted him.

"And ask if you could avoid hurting Grandpa?" Tenchi asked sheepishly.

Ryoko smiled.

"Is that all?" She asked him. "And you say I worry too much."

Suddenly remembering something, Ryoko slapped a fist into her left hand.

"Oh! But that does remind me. As much as it annoys me to admit it, the last time Yosho and I fought, he won." She looked at Tenchi, gauging his reactions. "So, how do you expect me to beat him this time?"

"Well..." Tenchi did not seem to have an answer. Ryoko, however, did.

"Tenchi, I need my gems."

"I don't know..." He did not like Ryoko's answer.

"Think about it." She pointed out to him. "You want me to win, right?"

"Yes." Tenchi confirmed, as she knew he would.

"Then you should give them to me. I can't even penetrate his energy barrier without them."

Tenchi thought hard. Ryoko had a good point. But something seemed out of place. She must be planning something. He just could not divine what it was. Then there was the issue of trust. Could he trust her? She had never done anything to intentionally hurt him. But she still seemed somewhat unreliable. Then again, she always came through when it was important. If he gave Ryoko her gems back, would she just leave? She had not said anything about the gems for months. He had been thinking that maybe she had forgotten about them.

Then there was last night. Ryoko had seemed very sincere in her admission. That had to have taken a great deal of trust on her part. If he could not return her trust now, then when? Tenchi dug into his pocket and retrieved the sword that he had been named after.

"All right." He told her. If he had been paying more attention to Ryoko's expression, he would have see her forlorn smile.

Tenchi held up the master key in his right hand. The two remaining gems seemed to sparkle with an inner light. Ryoko put her two hands over Tenchi's one.

"Do you remember what to do?" She asked him.

"Heh. How could I forget."

Ryoko's smile grew at the fond memory. The look on Tenchi's face when he had found her in his bed had been classic. She loved to see the expressions he gave her. Ryoko pulled Tenchi's hand to her chest.

"Hey, I don't remember this being a requirement." Tenchi tried to pull his hand back. But Ryoko would not let him.

"Uhn-uh. Just pray." Ryoko closed her eyes, cherishing the memories she had of Tenchi. She wanted to remember this moment, as well.

Tenchi also closed his eyes, trying to put his awkward position out of mind. All three gems began rhythmically glowing. They pulsed in time as if to some silent song. The two gems on the master key faded away, then reappeared, one on Ryoko's right wrist, the other on her neck, at the base of her throat, just above the collarbone. Instinctively, they both knew the exchange had been completed and opened their eyes.

"Can I have my hand back now?" Tenchi asked.

"Ah...ha, ha, ha! Sure." Ryoko laughed, letting go of his hand.

Tenchi had said what he wanted and Ryoko had her gems back. So he decided to excuse himself.

"Well, I guess I'd better get going." He turned to the door.

"Tenchi?" Ryoko asked from behind.

When Tenchi turned back from the door to see what Ryoko wanted, she pushed him back against the door by his shoulders. Before he could do anything to object, she kissed him. He tried to struggle, but Ryoko's passion overwhelmed him. If she were not so attractive, or if she were not pressing herself against him, he could have fended her off. A girl had kissed him once before. But it had only been a peck on the cheek. This was... better.

Despite his best effort, Tenchi found himself responding. But before he could get into it, Ryoko broke off. She rested her head against his shoulder for a moment. Tenchi said nothing.

"Tenchi?" She asked.

"Huh?"

"You're going to be late."

Tenchi's face turned red. 

"What --" But before he could say more she pushed him through the door and out into the hallway. He stared at the door in confusion. For a moment he had thought she meant to try seducing him again. He scratched his head. Ryoko was acting really strange this morning.

On other side of the door, Ryoko let her forehead rest against the door. She looked down at the cold floor. There were no answers there. In two years, they had never been so close. But now her plan to get Tenchi out of this mess may drive him away forever. A tear struck the floor.

The royal family began filling their private box. The public announcer politely instructed all to rise until the King was seated. When Azusa had done so, he gave his permission to begin.

The male announcer had already given a great deal of background earlier, so he began introducing the combatants.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are in for a real slobberknocker. These combatants have a long standing grudge against each other." 

The announcer sounded like a professional wrestling commentator. Tenchi did not approve of the way he was sensationalizing the match. The man continued, unaware of any objections.

"Both are returning to Jurai after more than seven hundred years of absence." The crowd quieted. They knew only the Royal Family lived so long. That meant both combatants must be royalty, as well.

"For the Defender, Seiryuu. The Crown Prince himself, Yosho!"

The crowd cheered. While Yosho had not been very popular due to his mixed heritage, much had changed on Jurai since then. He had saved the planet seven hundred years ago by driving away Ryoko. Many now considered him a hero. Thanks to the commentator, all knew of his martial prowess.

The escape doors at one end of the arena opened inwards into the hall. The long missing prince strode onto the arena floor. He wore the simple training outfit he used while giving Tenchi his lessons. Plain brown trousers held up by a simple leather belt and a loose fitting shirt allowed him freedom of movement and good airflow to keep him cool while maintaining an appropriate level of modesty. In his right hand he held a wooden bouken.

While Yosho intensely disagreed with what his father was doing, it was lawful. He would uphold his family's honor. However, he had no intention of injuring Ryoko if it could be avoided. He was confident he could defeat her on his own. The power of the Master Key was therefor unnecessary.

When Yosho reached the center of the arena he turned to the royal box and bowed. When he straightened, the announcer continued with the introductions.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, you may have some difficulty believing what I am about to tell you, so brace yourselves. The information is accurate and has been verified by the palace."

The crowd quieted again in anticipation.

"For the Challenger, Prince Tenchi. I still can't believe this, but here she is. The Champion for the Challenger is none other than the Destroyer Ryoko!"

The crowd's reaction was decidedly negative. The entire arena erupted with angry boos and catcalls. The intense noise echoed from the rafters.

In the hallway opposite the one from where Yosho had entered, Ryoko steamed. She considered herself fairly stoic when it came to impersonal insults, but this was too much.

"Fine." Ryoko seethed. "If they want a demon, I'll give them one." She accelerated furiously. The sudden vacuum left by her departure slammed the two guards holding the doors together, knocking them cold.

The arena was too small for super-sonic flight. Ryoko figured bursting some eardrums would be fair compensation for the stinging her own ears were taking. She circled the arena several times picking up a huge cloud of dust in her wake. It followed her as she circled to the top of the dome and then shot straight down. Ryoko stopped just six centimeters from the ground. The dust cloud enveloped her. Sparks of electricity arced throughout the ball, making it glow. The glow increased to dazzling intensity. Then POOF! The entire cloud vaporized into motes of multicolored light that slowly drifted to the ground. Ryoko stood proudly, completely untouched, hands on her hips.

Yosho leaned over.

"Show off."

Her comeback was flawless.

"I'm a demon, remember? They're expecting a show."

"Well then, Demon Ryoko. Now you must bow to the King to show your respect."

Ryoko looked up at the royal box.

"Bow, huh?" She grinned. A better way of showing her respect came to mind. The crowd had quieted some since her awe-inspiring entrance. This would really get them going. She stuck out her tongue and made a rude noise. Sure enough, the crowd roared its disapproval. Ryoko laughed heartily.

The novelty of someone giving the King of Jurai the raspberry was not lost on Azusa. He bore the ignobility of Ryoko's action as best he could, then signaled for the Champions to take their places.

Ryoko sailed overhead. Her flight path took her generally away from the center of the arena. Yosho calmly strode exactly two-thirds of the way across the arena towards the doors he had entered. He then turned to face his opponent. Ryoko had already arrived where she would begin her attack.

Yosho had not failed to notice Ryoko had retrieved her gems from Tenchi. He had known his grandson would eventually return them to her. Tenchi, true to form, was taking this battle seriously. But now Ryoko could call on almost unlimited power. He would need the Master Key to match her.

The King gave the signal to begin.

Ryoko flew straight at Yosho. Initially very aggressive, as he expected. He stepped aside at the last moment, allowing Ryoko to shoot past him. Dropping the nearly useless bouken, Yosho raised his hand, calling the Master Key to him.

Up in the royal box, Tenchi felt the sword move of it's own volition. It ripped a hole in his trousers as it exited his pocket, then went right through the window and into the arena, leaving a smoothly melted hole in the clear panel. Yosho caught the sword cleanly in his hand.

Ryoko blasted away at him from a distance. She had learned from their last fight and was using her long-range attacks in an effort to weaken him. If he didn't close the distance she would eventually pick him apart.

Ryoko's first energy bolt missed cleanly. The second splashed harmlessly against his shield. Yosho ran towards her, expecting she would move aside or teleport above him. When she disappeared, he jumped, hoping to catch her in the air when she materialized. She never did. He glanced around, unable to find her. Had she fled?

Yosho came back to the ground. Ryoko was nowhere to be seen. He reached out with his senses. He could still detect her power nearby. But he could not tell where. Suddenly the ground beneath him exploded, throwing him into the air. Debris and dust in the air blocked his sight. The arena filled with dust. No one could see a thing. Rocks and building materials pummeled the temporarily blinded prince.

The floor was not there anymore. The Crown Prince came down hard. He rolled with the impact, but the landing was still painful. Feeling a wave of heat from above, he looked up and caught a blast of dust in the face. It passed, then he could see upwards.

Ryoko floated where the floor used to be nearly twenty feet above him. The air whipped about, fanning her hair and dress.

"Shield yourself." His opponent called down from above. She began to stretch her arms out wide, then stopped for some reason. She looked down at Yosho. "And quit looking up my dress!"

Yosho had not been looking up her dress. But now that she mentioned it, he did have a pretty good view.

Ryoko spread her arms the rest of the way out to her sides. She called on the power of the gems, making them shine brightly.

Around the perimeter of the arena were posted ten Guardians of Jurai. Their job was to prevent anything or anyone from exiting the combat arena. Primarily they were there to protect the spectators from injury by stray energy and objects. The ten guardians on the rim and the two in the royal box, Azaka and Kamidake, made up the entire complement of guardians available. Inside the royal box, Tenchi, Sasami, and Ryo-o-ki were glued to the window. Dust had filled the arena so completely, they could not see inside.

"Majesty," Azaka warned, "perimeter guardians exceeding maximum rated output capacity."

"Mmm?" Azusa carefully examined the guardians he could still see. One of them was starting to smoke. A moment later its main power outputs shorted, causing it to catch fire. With its load carrying capacity remove from the barrier, the other guardians began shorting out, as well. The barrier fell. Smoke and dust immediately filled the stadium.

When Ryo-o-ki saw the barrier fall, she suddenly jumped through the box window, leaping into the air. With a screech, she transformed into her spaceship form. One of her extremities scraped the royal box, tearing it open.

Tenchi grabbed Sasami, shielding her with his body. Aeka protected herself with her own barrier. Azaka and Kamedake projected a barrier over the King and his two wives, who leapt into Azusa's arms.

"I'm scared! Protect me!" They simultaneously cried.

Seiryuu hid behind Aeka's shield. He was not afraid of a little dust and noise. But heavens forbid something should scratch his beautiful face.

Suddenly Ryoko appeared in the ruined box. She closed fist struck Aeka's shield, shattering it like glass. She grabbed the startled Princess, and then disappeared again.

"Aeka!" Sasami cried out to her sister.

Ryo-o-ki crashed through the stadium dome. She quickly disappeared into the blue sky, escaping out into open space.

Yosho was just climbing out of his hole when several large pieces of roofing material crashed down around him. He jumped from side to side, narrowly avoiding the falling objects.

Reaching safety, he looked up at the big hole in the dome overhead. Though it galled him, he had to give Ryoko credit. She had executed a perfect kidnapping scenario. While everyone had been blinded by her dusty diversion, Ryoko had snatched the princess and made a clean getaway.

Ryoko's plan suddenly became clear to Yosho. It made sense in a twisted sort of way. With Aeka gone, there was no longer a princess to marry. Not only was Tenchi off the hook, so was Aeka. Just as importantly, no one had been hurt. Ryoko was getting to be quite the tactician.

In the royal box, Tenchi was staring at the hole Ryo-o-ki had made in the stadium roof. Sasami sobbed into his chest.

"Why, Tenchi? Why did Ryoko take Aeka away?"

Tenchi had no answer for the little girl. He felt incredibly stupid. It seemed so obvious to him now. Ryoko had been working him over for the past few days. Then, when she got her gems back, she left, just as he had feared.

Azusa joined him at the front of the box.

"Tenchi. This demon: Ryoko. You freed her from her prison. You restored her power. You brought her here to Jurai. You are responsible for her actions." He paused for a moment. "You will bring her and my daughter back." His stern tone gave a clear indication that there was no other choice in this matter.

"I'm... sorry. You're right. Ryoko is my responsibility. I promise I'll bring them back." Tenchi vowed.

In the background, Funaho winked at her sister-in-law. Misaki covered her mouth, stifling a giggle.

END.

AFTERWORD:

Figured it out yet? The reason for all the deception is finally revealed in chapter 4: A Captive Audience.

I won't spoil the surprise. However, I want to say that Ryoko's apparent betrayal is the first step on the road to altering the status of the relationships within the Masaki household. The more dramatic changes will not occur until volume 2. But, there has to be a reason for the changes. Hence, the unconventional and risky method Ryoko has chosen to preserve the status quo.


	4. A Captive Audience

****

INVASION Volume 1, Part 4: **A Captive Audience.**

DISCLAIMER: Tenchi Muyou! is copyright AIC/Pioneer, LDC. I claim no rights to it. However, the events in this story are entirely of my own imagination. So please don't change it. Feel free to distribute as widely as desired.

FOREWORD:

Now things really pick-up. Action, action, action!

I thought hard about what kind of tactic could defeat a Jurai ship, since the Light-Hawk Wings seemed completely undefeatable. It's pretty obvious after taking the time to consider it. They only face in one direction. Hit them from more than one direction and they can't effectively defend themselves. Of course, that won't do any good if the attackers are destroyed in the first counter-strike. So, make them small and agile. It's like a person versus an ant. The person would win. Put that same person up against an army of ants, and he/she gets devoured. It's the same principal here.

I have to admit I did take some liberties concerning Ryo-o-ki. Her becoming exhausted after a massive energy discharge is plausible, if a little far-fetched.

AUTHOR: Dreamr

LAST REVISION: 06 February 2003

E-MAIL: TrueDreamr@Hotmail.com

BEGIN.

Ryo-o-ki sped through space with two passengers, one of them willing, the other not. Ryoko had briefed her on the plan and their destination. There would be no mistakes. On board, Ryoko sat in her chair, cross-legged, elbows on her knees, staring into space. With her hands folded in front of her face, she rested the point of her chin on her thumbs. Behind her, Aeka stood, contained in some strange force-field contraption of Washu's design that Ryoko had "borrowed" for the duration. The invention was almost perfect. It had only one small flaw. It was not sound proof.

"Ryoko, I'm talking to you! You could at least do me the courtesy of looking at me when I speak to you."

Ryoko had been ignoring Aeka so far. But she was starting to get annoyed with the Princess's constant nagging. Aeka called again.

"Ryoko, answer me!"

Whipping around in her seat, Ryoko shouted back at her.

"Would you shut the hell up!?"

Aeka ignored the outburst and continued to interrogate her captor.

"You don't actually think you're going to get away with this, do you? I have always known you were a criminal. Now you have proven yourself a fool, as well."

"Oh, no, Aeka." Ryoko pointed at her. "You're the fool." She climbed over the back of the chair and floated over to Aeka. "You see, kidnapping you wasn't my idea." Ryoko smiled at the girl before her. "Care to know who thought it up?"

"I command you to tell me. Once I am rescued, that person will be brought to justice, just as you will be."

Ryoko walked slowly around the force field, running her fingers along its edge. It spat and crackled at her touch.

"Funaho." She revealed.

"You lie." Aeka refused to believe the answer. "Lady Funaho would never do something this underhanded."

"Sorry, Princess. It's the truth. She and I had a nice long chat last night. Looks like I'm not the only one who thinks you should stay an old maid. Ha ha ha!" Ryoko laughed at her.

"LIAR!" Aeka screamed at her kidnapper.

Ryoko just smiled back, content with her victory. Aeka had one more card to play, though. Hopefully it would wipe that smug smile off Ryoko's face.

"Lord Tenchi will come for me." She reminded the pirate. "He will be furious! In fact, I'll bet he doesn't say a word to you for the rest of his life. Then, when he kicks you out of his home, I will have him to myself." Aeka was actually starting to feel better. "I suppose I should be thanking you, instead. Ah, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!"

Ryoko was not smiling anymore. Aeka was right. Tenchi probably would give her the boot. As for Aeka having him to herself, Tenchi would have to find them first.

"Mya! Myeow, myah." Ryo-o-ki announced their arrival at their destination.

"We're here." Ryoko translated for her captive.

"Here where? There's nothing around here except empty space." Aeka pointed out to Ryoko.

Without warning the space surrounding them wavered. A huge space station appeared directly in their path. A large door yawned open, allowing them access to the interior.

"Did you say something?" Ryoko asked.

Tenchi, Nobuyuki, Katsuhito, Washu, Sasami, and Mihoshi took off from Jurai aboard Yukinojo. Destination...

"What?!" Everyone asked simultaneously. Mihoshi sat at the controls in Yukinojo's cockpit. They were all depending on Washu to figure out where Ryoko had taken Aeka. Her admitting she did not know something was a terrible blow to their confidence. Washu tried to explain.

"Ryoko has been doing this sort of thing for a long time. She's probably got more hideouts than personality quirks." There was a collective giggle at Ryoko's expense. Nobuyuki whispered to his father-in-law.

"I guess criminal psychology is her weak point." Washu suddenly grabbed him by the shirt. With one foot she kicked Mihoshi out of the pilot's chair and onto the floor. She then thrust Tenchi's father into the now vacant seat.

"Okay, Nobuyuki. Let's see you find her."

Sasami examined Mihoshi on the floor by poking her with a stick.

"Are you okay?"

"I-I'm okay. Practice makes perfect." Mihoshi unsteadily replied.

Tenchi tried to get Washu back on track.

"Little Washu..." She did not let him finish.

"Nope. He's going to do it." She told Tenchi, indicating his father with an intent gaze. "Aren't you?"

Washu gave Nobuyuki the evil eye, making him gulp nervously. He was really on the hotseat now. With the family pride was at stake, he closed his eyes, then punched a button at random from the selection on the control panel.

"Miss Mihoshi." Yukinojo instantly responded. "We're intercepting a transmission on Jurai military channel."

Ryoko appeared on the screen. Washu's eyes popped right out of her head. Nobuyuki bolted to his feet. With one foot on the instrument console, he pointed to the stars.

"**YEAH!** Now who's the greatest?"

Washu grabbed the victor from behind and threw him across the cabin. He crashed into the far wall and slowly slid down to the ground. Washu replaced him in the twice-vacated seat.

"Yukinojo! Are you tracing the signal?"

"Yes, ma'am." It answered.

"Put me on." Tenchi demanded from behind the seat.

"I'm sorry." The computer personality explained. "The transmission is a prerecorded microburst. No interaction is possible."

"Oh. Could you play it back, please?"

"Certainly." Everyone watched the message with great attention.

"This message is for the Jurai Royal Family." The image spoke. "I have Princess Aeka. If you attempt to rescue her, you'll never see her again. If you try to catch me, you'll never see her again. If you don't deposit one billion Jurai into Threshold account number nine five five alpha zeta two six within twenty-four hours, you'll never see her again. Do as I say, and she'll be returned unharmed." The image grinned evilly. "One more thing. Don't mess with me on this." The frame froze, leaving an arrogant smile as testament to Ryoko's confidence.

"End of message." Yukinojo informed them. Tenchi stared at the frozen image as if trying to digest something his stomach could not handle. Though the picture was static, in Tenchi's mind, Ryoko seemed to be leering at his foolishness. She had played him like a harp from hell and now she would have her revenge. Tenchi shook his head, trying to clear the vision from sight. Ryoko still stood there, leering. Unwilling to watch the image any longer, he turned and walked out the cockpit door. It zipped open just in time to avoid a collision then closed right behind him. Washu was the first to speak.

"That was brief."

Sasami had picked up on someone else's feelings.

"Poor Tenchi."

"'Poor Tenchi'?" The others quoted her together.

"He looked so sad." She explained.

"Sasami, why don't you go try to cheer Tenchi up?" Washu suggested from her seat.

"Right." Sasami replied. Glad to be of use, she turned and went through the door Tenchi had used a moment ago. Again it opened just in time. It slid shut behind her with a tired hiss.

Mihoshi still sat on the floor, looking up at the monitor. She addressed the computerized ship.

"Yukinojo, does this mean I have to file a report?"

"I'm afraid so, Mihoshi." The voice answered. Tears were welling in Mihoshi's eyes.

"But, I don't want to. Ryoko's my friend." She sniffled.

"I don't believe that will be necessary." Katsuhito offered. "Since no report of a missing person has been made to the Galaxy Police by the Royal Family, as far as the GP knows, no kidnapping has occurred. Since you have not been assigned to any such case, there is no need for a report, is there?"

"Really?" Mihoshi asked.

"Yup." Katsuhito verified.

"Isn't that great, Yukinojo?"

"Of course it is." The computer blithely answered. "Miss Washu, I've finished the trace."

"Well? Show me!" Washu demanded impatiently.

"I hate to admit it, but I may have made an error. Could you confirm the results, please?"

"An error? Hmm..." Washu didn't think it very likely Yukinojo had made an error, but she still wanted to see these strange results. The grinning image finally disappeared, replaced by a starmap of the Jurai home system. The ship's location was indicated by a blinking blue blip on the screen, the source of the transmission by a blinking green blip situated in an empty area of space practically right next door to Jurai.

"Ah, ha!" Washu exclaimed. "Clever. Very clever. Your results are right on the mark, Yukinojo."

"Oh, good." The computer interface almost seemed to smile in relief.

"There's something there, all right." She confirmed. "Only four people in the universe know about that place, Kagato, Yakage, myself, of course, and Ryoko. Since the first two are dead and I'm right here, that only leaves Ryoko!" Washu took control of the helm.

"Set a course, Yukinojo!" A matronly look appeared in Washu's eyes. "It's time for mommy to administer some discipline."

Tenchi eventually found himself in Yukinojo's engine room. He had not had any particular destination in mind, not that there was really any other place to go, but at least he could be alone while he sorted himself out.

He could not believe what he had seen. In her message, Ryoko had seemed so distant compared to the girl who had confessed her love for him only the night before. It just did not make sense. He was starting to think Ryoko had said those things just to get him to give the gems back. Maybe she wanted revenge against him and his family for being imprisoned for seven hundred years. He did not want to believe it, but there was no other explanation he could think of.

The door opened behind Tenchi. Couldn't he have just a moment of peace? He turned to berate whoever had followed him, but stopped when he saw it was Sasami.

"Tenchi!" She gasped, trying to catch her breath from running after him.

"Sasami, I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I thought I could trust Ryoko." He hung his head in shame.

Sasami took a deep breath.

"No, Tenchi. You have to believe in Ryoko. She wouldn't hurt anybody. I know it. Please don't give up on her."

Sasami's big pink eyes pleaded with Tenchi as much as her voice. The words bolstered Tenchi's confidence somewhat. Hopefully it would be enough to see things through.

"You're right, Sasami." Tenchi gave her a hopeful smile. "Let's go see how Washu and the others are doing."

"Okay." Sasami agreed. "But this time can we walk?"

"Ah- Sorry." They headed back to the cockpit at a more reasonable pace.

As soon as they cleared the door, Tenchi started asking questions.

"Little Washu, how much longer until we find Ryoko?"

Before Washu could answer, the viewscreen wavered. A huge spacestation appeared, it's bay doors yawning open for them.

"Ah. Never mind." Tenchi retracted his question. "Why would Ryoko pick this place?"

Washu, of course, had an answer ready for him.

"Well, I've been thinking about that. This station is almost impossible to find. By sending her demands, Ryoko made it obvious to me where she's hiding. But anyone else who traced the signal would see the point-of-origin and think it was a trick to hide her location."

Everyone except Tenchi seemed just as confused as they did before Washu's explanation.

"So... Ryoko hid herself by telling everyone where she is?" His tone seemed more indicative of a question. The others looked at him in astonishment. He had actually understood Washu's answer.

"Right!" She congratulated Tenchi.

He smiled, pleased with himself. In the background Tenchi's grandfather nodded in agreement. He could recall the game of hide-and-seek they had played many years ago to illustrate his lesson on hiding in plain sight. Katsuhito wanted some answers from Washu, as well.

"So how is it you were able to hide this base from Jurai intelligence for so long?"

"In addition to advanced sensor screens, I built this facility six thousand years ago when Juraian technology wasn't anywhere near as good as it is today. Since there's no reason to look at this part of space, it has remained undetected."

"If it's undetectable", Nobuyuki asked, "then how did Ryoko find it, eh?"

Washu glared at him. 

"Ryoko knows because she was born here." There was a collective gasp. "Ryo-o-ki, too." Another gasp.

Yukinojo settled to the landing bay floor. Catching sight of someone, Washu waved out the cockpit window. Everyone crowded to see whom she was waving at. To the side of the landing deck, Ryoko and Ryo-o-ki stood, waiting. Ryo-o-ki had assumed the form of a little girl and was waving back.

As soon as Yukinojo opened the hatch, everyone made a mad rush for the hanger floor. Since only one person could fit through the door at a time, they got stuck. They jockeyed and jostled for position, arguing over whom would be the first to talk to Ryoko.

Seeing that they had gotten themselves stuck, Ryoko flew up the landing stairs to the door. She examined the blockage for a moment, then grabbed Tenchi and pulled him into the air. The others popped out of the doorway and tumbled in a ball down the stairs to the hanger floor. Katsuhito exited the ship shortly after them, strolling calmly down the stairs. He ignored the two floating above him.

Tenchi and Ryoko looked at each other.

"Put me down." Tenchi told the girl holding him up in the air.

"Tenchi," Ryoko tried to explain. "I just-"

"Put me down!" He shouted at her. Ryoko's eyes got really big. Tenchi's tone was so stern she nearly dropped him. She quickly descended to the floor where they could both stand freely. Ryoko released her grip on Tenchi. He looked angry. No, not angry, upset. Upset with her.

"Ryoko, what's going on? Why did you kidnap Aeka?"

Ryoko tried to answer, but Tenchi kept talking, not allowing her a chance to answer.

"You attacked the Royal Family! Do you think they'll let you get away with that? Even worse, the King is holding me personally responsible. What did you think-"

Ryoko finally lost her patience.

"Shut-the-hell-up and I'll tell you!" She shouted back.

Ryoko never yelled at Tenchi. Not ever. For the first time he noticed her disheveled appearance. She still wore the same dress she had fought in during the challenge match on Jurai. It was covered in dust and grime. There was even a small tear in one sleeve. Tenchi could barely see Ryoko's golden eyes through the strands of cyan hair that hung thickly over her brow. Ryoko never let him see her like this if she could help it. She always maintained her personal appearance, hoping he would be impressed. Now it looked like impressing him did not matter anymore. Tenchi reached up to brush the wayward strands of hair back into place. But they stubbornly refused to stay.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you." Tenchi apologized. "Tell me what's wrong."

"Funaho." Ryoko finally managed to blurt out.

"Huh?" Tenchi didn't understand.

"It was Funaho's idea to kidnap Aeka."

"Funaho?" Tenchi asked.

"Tenchi!" His grandfather called. "Why don't you bring Ryoko over here so we can all hear what's going on." It was more of an instruction than a request. Tenchi started towards him with a sigh. After a brief hesitation, Ryoko followed. As he approached, Tenchi observed the looks on the faces of his friends and family. They did not look angry, only concerned. That he was the only one actually upset seemed strange. Why was everyone so calm except him?

Remembering Sasami's earlier words, Tenchi's gaze rested on the girl for a moment. He walked slowly, allowing himself a few calming breaths. He promised himself he would give Ryoko the opportunity to explain the situation. Katsuhito sat at the bottom of the stairway, waiting for them to arrive. He directed his attention to Ryoko.

"Now, then." He began. "Why don't you tell us your reasons for taking Aeka."

"Okay." Ryoko started. "I was wandering around the palace last night, when I ran into Funaho. She seemed pretty tired so I tried to leave, but she asked me in for tea."

"Tea?" Tenchi asked incredulously.

"Yeah. Imagine that. Ryoko "The Destroyer", having tea with the Royal Family of Jurai. Talk about awkward."

"I see." The elder prince prompted her. "And what did you talk about?"

"She said she was trying to get the law forcing Aeka to get married repealed. She was making progress but there wasn't enough time."

"Ahh. Now I understand." Katsuhito relaxed visibly. "By taking Aeka you stop the challenge match and the wedding, thereby allowing Lady Funaho the time required to work on the council. And," he emphasized, "since you have the queen's permission, technically it's not kidnapping. Mother was always good at politics." He laughed heartily.

"But, what about that ransom message?" Mihoshi asked.

"Oh, that was just to let Washu know where I was. Besides, you don't think that blowhard Azusa would actually meet my demands, do you?"

Funny faces all around. The king's son stood, amused at Ryoko's description of his father.

But Tenchi was not satisfied just yet.

"Where's Aeka?"

"Oh, yeah, Aeka. I had to stick her in an isolation field, for her own protection, of course." She laughed thinly.

Nobuyuki coughed in the background. Seeing Tenchi was not amused, Ryoko decided she had better cough-up the princess before he got mad again.

"Right this way to Princess Bubble-butt." She announced leading them from the hanger.

"Bubble-butt?" Nobuyuki asked.

"Didn't you notice she put on some weight? Yup, that's right. I told her if she kept eating those snacks, she would get fat. But does she listen to me? Oh, no." Ryoko was trying to lighten the mood, but Tenchi had everyone on edge. He did not seem to be placated by her explanation. It seemed Aeka was not the only one who did not believe what Ryoko said anymore. Maybe if she got Funaho to tell Tenchi, then he would believe her. If he did not... Ryoko tried not to think about it.

It was only a short walk to the command center. When they approached the door, it slid open automatically. As the others filed in, Ryoko turned and pointed to the back of the room.

"Ryoko!" Aeka started in again. "It's about time you-" As soon as she saw Tenchi, her whole demeanor changed.

"Oh, Lord Tenchi! Thank goodness you've arrived. I've been so frightened." Tenchi walked over to check on Aeka's condition.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm unharmed. But that crazy-woman has had me locked-up in here for hours."

"I think everything will be all right, now." He assured her.

Then the alarm bells started ringing. Everyone except Ryoko looked around in confusion. She moved to the main control console and pushed a button, silencing the alarms. Another button push brought an image of Jurai battleships onto the viewscreen above the console. There were ten, including the King's ship, Kirito.

"Hah!" Aeka exclaimed. "Now you're in for it, Ryoko. Father has brought an escort to see me safely home."

"He's gotta find you first." Countered Ryoko.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"Take a look. They're just cruising around in standard search patterns. If they knew where we were, don't you think they would be doing something about it? They probably followed Tenchi here, then got confused when the ship disappeared. If we sit tight for a while, everything will work out by itself."

"Are you sure about this?" Tenchi asked.

"Sure." Ryoko answered.

The alarms started again. Ryoko hit the same two buttons in sequence, as all eyes were once again directed to the screen. Hundreds of small charcoal grey ships appeared on the screen. They resembled some kind dragonfly flying backwards. They seemed to be coming from nowhere.

"Ryoko?" Mihoshi marveled at the vast fleet. "Are we expecting more company?"

"No." Ryoko's eyes narrowed at the sight of this new complication. "Washu, do you recognize these guys?" There was no answer. Ryoko looked around. Washu was nowhere to be seen.

"Washu? Damn it! Now where'd she go?" Behind her, Aeka gasped.

"Ryoko! Quickly! Show our ships."

Ryoko changes the view to include the Juraian vessels. Energy beams lanced between the large space-tree ships and the smaller, more agile, invaders. The attacking ships were fast and easily avoided most of the Juraian weapons. Unfortunately for the Juraians, their enemy rarely missed. They swarmed the larger ships, hammering them mercilessly.

The space-tree ships deployed their Light-hawk Wings in defense. With the King's own Kirito present an ordinary enemy would pose no threat. But the tactic was only partially effective. The Light-Hawk Wings could only block attacks from the front. The enemies were so numerous; they could attack from all sides.

A red square surrounded one of the smallest ships that seemed to be attracting most of the attention. A moment later Mihoshi's wristband began beeping insistently. She examined it for a moment, then deactivated the noise.

"A distress call!" She turned to Tenchi to excuse herself. "Tenchi, I guess I have to go for a little while. Someone's in trouble and they need my help." She did not seem to make the connection between the battle playing itself out on the viewscreen and the distress call. Mihoshi ran for the door.

"I'll see you later!" She said by way of departure, oblivious to the danger ahead.

Tenchi returned her wave weakly.

"Uh, take care..." Teardrops and sighs all around. She ran out the door to hopefully find her way to Yukinojo. 

On the screen, the ship with the red square exploded.

"What-!" Aeka gasped. "A fourth-generation ship so easily... Lord Tenchi," Aeka pleaded. "We must do something to help!"

"Does this station have any weapons?" Tenchi asked Ryoko.

"Nope." Ryoko answered, staring intently at the screen.

"What about Ryo-o-ki?" Tenchi turned to the little girl. "You want to help, don't you?"

"Forget it, Tenchi!" Ryoko forbade him. "It's way too dangerous for her."

"But won't the King blame you for the attack?"

Ryoko's jaw hit the floor.

"That's right Ryoko." Aeka pressed the point. "Father will most certainly lay the blame for this squarely on you unless you do something to help win this battle. Then, even a statute of limitations won't free you from pursuit."

Ryoko looked as if she might pull her own hair out. The plan Funaho had proposed had been risky at best. If it had worked out, things would have been all right. But now, some idiot had chosen this time and place to try invading Jurai. They were doing a pretty good job, too. The Juraian ships were getting pummeled. Washu would say this mission had a very low probability of success. Ryoko could sum it up in one word: suicidal. What really got her goat was the idea of the royal family chasing her around the galaxy again. There was no way she would go through more of that. More importantly, she would have to leave Earth, and Tenchi, behind. Someone tugged on her dress sleeve.

"Myah?" Ryo-o-ki gazed up at her.

"What do think, Ryo-o-ki? Can we do it?"

"Mya meow meyah."

Ryoko looked at the screen again.

"All right. If they want a fight, we'll give them one." She clenched her right fist and closed her eyes. The dress she had favored for so long was replaced from head to toe by the red and black singlette she wore only when she knew there would be combat.

"Ready?" Tenchi asked from behind her. When she turned to answer, Ryoko saw that Tenchi had donned the Juraian battle armor Tsunami provided him.

"No way!" Ryoko vehemently objected. "You are not coming!"

"I won't just sit back and watch while you risk your life."

Ryoko pointed to the battle raging on the screen.

"You can't fight against them with a sword, Tenchi! Look! There is no one you can fight!

"That's not the point." Tenchi told her.

Ryoko was thrown completely off track. If Tenchi did not want to fight, what was the point in going? She looked at him, trying to discern his intentions.

"Ryoko, when we have to fight for what's important to us, we should stick together. I know I haven't done very well keeping everyone together, and... I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not trusting you. But this is my responsibility. I have to go."

Tenchi held his hand out to Ryoko. The gesture seemed a little strange to him, yet it was appropriate. He wanted her to know he would trust her from now on, no matter what.

Ryoko clasped his hand, happy to accept Tenchi's apology. But there was still something left to do. She knew when Tenchi got this way he would not change his mind. He always picked the worst time to get stubborn.

"I'm sorry, too."

Everyone looked at Ryoko in astonishment. She had actually apologized for something. Tenchi got a bigger shock. Ryoko was not apologizing for her earlier actions, but for what she was about to do.

An electric charge flowed through her hand into Tenchi, knocking him unconscious. She caught him before he hit the floor.

"Tenchi!" Both princesses exclaimed. Ryoko handed Tenchi to Sasami.

"Here."

"He's heavy!" Sasami protested. Unable to hold Tenchi's weight any longer, she toppled over, Tenchi falling on top of her. Her little limbs stuck out from underneath.

Ryoko looked around at the others still present. Some were giving her nasty looks. Those looks put more holes in her heart. She tried to justify her actions to them.

"I can't guarantee Tenchi's safety if he comes along, and he wouldn't take 'no' for an answer."

"We understand." Katsuhito assured her.

Nobuyuki bent down to pull Tenchi off of Sasami.

"He does get a little thick in the head sometimes." He said, making fun of his child.

"Yes. In that way he takes after his father, I think."

"Is that so?"

The flash of another ship exploding on screen reminded Ryoko to get moving. She grabbed Ryo-o-ki by the shirt-back, carrying her like a briefcase.

"Ryo-o-ki, let's go."

"Ryoko!" Aeka called from across the room. For a moment she felt like wishing her nemesis good luck. But the words would not come out. She opted for a more acceptable alternative.

"Would you be so kind as to free me from this birdcage before you leave?"

"Nah." Ryoko answered with a smile. "I like you right where you are, Princess Bird-brain." She flew through the door, laughing.

Aeka turned red.

"Augh! That woman is incorrigible!"

Katsuhito walked to the infuriated princess, chuckling. He poked at the floor-mounted controls with one foot. The shield came down with a whine.

"Would you care to share with the rest of us what you find so entertaining, dear Brother?" Aeka glared at her brother ferociously.

"I've had a wonderful idea." He answered without missing a beat. "Let's go find Washu. She should be informed of these new developments."

"Oh, really?" Aeka asked skeptically. "Very well, then." She directed her attention to Nobuyuki, who was kneeling on the floor next to Tenchi and Sasami.

"Father," she address him, "I trust you will watch over my sister and Lord Tenchi while my brother and I go search for Miss Washu."

"Sure. I'll keep an eye on them." Nobuyuki waved them on. He always felt better when one of the girls addressed him as 'Father'.

A logical search through the facility would be better accomplished by splitting-up and searching individually. Yet, Katsuhito had not suggested it. Perhaps he had something else in mind. He and Aeka walked the hallway to the first intersection in silence. Aeka was the first to breech that silence.

"Is there something you wish to discuss?"

"It's just been so long since we walked together." Her brother offered.

"So it has. Which way shall we go?"

"Let's try left." Katsuhito suggested. Aeka stepped off in the indicated direction, her elder sibling following close behind.

"As I recall, the last time we walked together was before I left Jurai."

"Yes. We have the mummy-monster to thank for that."

"True. But Ryoko does seem to be behaving a little more normally these days."

"I hadn't noticed." Aeka feigned ignorance. She had a pretty good idea where this conversation was going.

"That's unfortunate, because I believe Tenchi has."

Aeka stopped in her tracks. She may not have been paying much attention to Ryoko's activities of late, but she had been watching Tenchi since their trip to the nameless planet last winter. It was no surprise to her that Tenchi had some feelings for Ryoko. That much had been obvious for months. He had been visibly upset over the idea Ryoko might be in love with someone else. Tenchi had always worn his heart on his sleeve. If that heart truly represented his feelings, his sleeve would have been soaked in blood.

Though Aeka objected to the way Ryoko pursued Tenchi like some prize bull, there was little she could do if Tenchi willingly choose Ryoko over her. The very idea sent shivers up her spine.

"Yosho, what are you getting at?"

"Isn't an old priest allowed to be concerned for his sister?"

"Please, brother. We were both raised in the royal court. Must we play these silly word games?"

Katsuhito sighed gently.

"I had hoped you could find with Tenchi what you could not on Jurai. I had no idea Ryoko was so determined."

So that was his angle. Aeka turned to her brother.

"Dear brother," she reached up and patted him on the cheek, "Thank you for caring. But I'm not giving up just yet."

"Of course not." But Katsuhito knew the harder Aeka tried, the more failure would hurt.

In the darkness of space, flashes of energy arced from ship to ship. Though the invading ships were easily destroyed, the trouble was actually hitting them. They seemed to be nothing more than engines and weapons. Their maneuverability was starting to make Ryoko mad. They could hit Ryo-o-ki, but she could not hit them back.

"Damn it! This is like fighting hornets with a club!"

Wham! Another shot struck Ryo-o-ki's flank.

"Mreow! Mya-myah!"

"Come on Ryo-o-ki! Don't you dare give up! Split the beam. Hit as many as you can!"

Ryo-o-ki fired several smaller beams at the offending ships. One of them ran into the beams when it tried to evade, and exploded.

"Yeah! Get 'em!" Her accuracy thus increased, the formerly fuzzy ship kept firing. She destroyed the enemy ships at a more rapid pace.

A vortex suddenly opened nearby. It spun silently in space, blue and white energy whirling about its center. From that center a large ship emerged. If the situation had not been so serious, Ryoko would have laughed. Her first impression was of a pig's head with wings. The "head" was shaped like a full bowl of rice with a snout in front. Behind it a short neck flared outwards forming the second half of the ship.

Hatches on the rear hull slid open spewing forth more of the little ships by the dozens. A growl emanated from deep within Ryoko's throat.

"What the hell do they need reinforcements for? They're doing fine kicking our ass, already!"

Though she was frustrated by the poor turn of events, a plan started to form in her mind. If the newly arrived carrier ship were also controlling the smaller fighters, destroying it might deprive them of their command and control, rendering them less effective. If she were lucky, they might stop fighting all together. Besides, blowing a big hole in that pig-snout ship would make her feel a lot better. Ryoko quickly relayed her plan to Ryo-o-ki through the mental link.

"Myeow!" Ryo-o-ki agreed as she began accelerating underneath the ship.

The forward view shifted vertically from the upper surface of the carrier, past the forward section, to its underside and beyond. It did not take long to pass underneath the ship. Not that it was small, but the high rate of speed made it seem so. Access doors and weapons ports flashed by. Ryoko counted no less than twenty weapon ports on the vessel's underbelly. Several fired as they passed, missing by a wide margin. The rear of the ship finally passed by, leaving only empty space ahead. Ryo-o-ki came to a screeching halt. Ryoko felt a surge of gravity as Ryo-o-ki's inertial dampers struggled to compensate for the rapid deceleration.

"Okay, Ryo-o-ki." Ryoko told her partner. "Let's him 'em where it counts!"

As Ryo-o-ki turned in space to target the carrier's more vulnerable aft section, Ryoko began funneling energy from the gems into Ryo-o-ki's weapon systems. A visible aura began to surround the rotating ship, testament to the level of power being transferred between them.

When the carrier came back into the forward view, Ryoko noticed several of the fighters making their way around it. But they were too late. The energy buildup had reached its optimal level. She cracked a malevolent grin, destruction on her mind.

"Too little, too late. There's a saying on Earth: Up yours!"

"Answering Ryoko's mental command, Ryo-o-ki released the pent-up energy in one massive blast. Luminescent yellow, it lanced through the short distance of space between the two ships, drilling a huge hole completely through the enemy ship. It hung passive for a moment, then exploded.

The force of the expanding gases and hurtling debris sent Ryo-o-ki tumbling through space. Once the blast wave passed, she regained control of her heading and attitude, then slowly came to a stop. Ryoko's eyes rolled around in her head as she knelt, trying to regain her sense of balance. When her vision finally stopped spinning, Ryoko made a mental note to be farther away the next time she blew something up.

Ryoko looked up to check for incoming fighters. All she saw were bits of metal and frozen gases. Apparently, the explosion had taken out the fighters that were chasing them. Ryoko stood, ready to celebrate.

"Ha! That's what you get for messing with a genuine demon!"

"Meow?" Ryo-o-ki asked if they could go home.

"Well, since there doesn't seem to be any more -" Before she could finish, Ryoko noticed movement between their position and the Juraian ships. She stared intently as the little dot was joined by others just like it.

Suddenly the lack of combat activity made sense. The fighters had not been destroyed. They had only changed targets from the Juraian space-tree ships to Ryo-o-ki. Good for the Juraians, but not so good for them.

"Okay, time to go." The oddly shaped cabbit flew away from the approaching ships at a disturbingly slow pace. Ryoko urged Ryo-o-ki on.

"Come on! Let's go!"

"Meya..." She tiredly replied.

"What do you mean you can't go any faster?!" Ryoko berated her companion for her perceived laziness. "Don't make excuses! Move it!" She pulled her leg back to give Ryo-o-ki a swift kick, but the enemy fighters beat her to it.

They quickly swarmed all around the now depleted Ryo-o-ki like a hive of angry hornets whose nest was being violated. They incessantly stung Ryo-o-ki with their weapons, blasting ever-increasing sizes of hull material away from her body. She cried out in pain. Ryoko could only look on as the overhead dome collapsed. Her last thoughts before the explosion were of how disappointed Tenchi would be. Space turned white.

Aboard Washu's research station, the pint-sized super-genius had finally tired of seeing "file not found" errors on the station computer. She mulled this over as she made her way to the command center, where she presumed the others would be waiting.

Someone had tampered with the records here. The disturbing thing was only the files concerning Ryoko's physiology were missing. Whoever had pulled this off was definitely a professional. But who could possibly want that kind of information? Jurai was a likely candidate, especially considering their proximity to the station. But they were interested in Ryo-o-ki, and that issue had been resolved with Lady Funaho a while back. Washu had not gotten the feeling they feared Ryoko or wanted to produce more of her. Strong-willed young women with super-powers did not exactly make good soldiers. One Ryoko was enough.

The data taken would enable someone to either create another Ryoko or destroy her. There was no logic in making more, so Washu continued along the thread that someone wanted Ryoko dead. That coincided with the attempt on her life at the palace. Once their current misadventure was over, Washu would have to examine the place Ryoko had blasted the assassin for clues.

Maybe someone in the government wanted revenge for the attack seven hundred years ago. Or maybe the Mafia thought she was a problem. Any number of possibilities existed. She would just have to keep her eyes and ears open. It would be a cold day in hell when she stood by while someone tried to destroy her pride and joy.

The door to the command center slid open to give Washu admittance. To her surprise there were only three people present: Sasami, Tenchi, and Nobuyuki. Tenchi and Sasami sat on the floor while Nobuyuki had commandeered the lone chair. A battle raged on the viewscreen.

"Hiya!" Washu looked about for the others. "Where is everybody?"

Tenchi jumped to his feet. He seemed worried about something.

"Washu! You have to help them!"

"Help who?" She asked.

"Ryoko and Mihoshi and Ryo-o-ki!"

"Let me guess." Washu pointed at the carnage being displayed on the viewscreen. "They're out there."

Tenchi nodded vigorously. Washu put her hand to her head as if she were nursing a headache.

"Now what have they gotten themselves into?" Though she referred primarily to Ryoko, the others also seemed to be able to cause massive amounts of destruction with almost no effort. Washu walked over to Tenchi's father and looked at him, using her most disarming smile. He naively smiled back.

"Hello there, Washu." Nobuyuki greeted her. Washu returned his greeting by grabbing him and throwing him across the room again. He slammed into the far wall, then slowly slid to the floor.

"He should know better than to sit in my chair by now." She explained to Tenchi. "Why don't you bring me up to date?"

"Uh, right. Anyway, the King of Jurai followed us here. Right after his ships arrived, these other guys showed up and started attacking them."

Washu waited a moment, expecting more.

"That's it?" She asked.

"Well, yeah."

Washu looked at the screen.

"Uh-huh. Right. So, tell me. Where are Aeka and Katsuhito?"

"Oh, they went looking for you." Tenchi answered.

"I see." the scientist eyed Tenchi. "And why are you in here while Mihoshi and Ryoko are out there?"

Tenchi got a bit flustered.

"Well, you know how Mihoshi is when she gets an emergency call." He tried to leave his explanation at that.

"And...?" Washu prompted Tenchi. Since he seemed so reluctant to answer, Sasami answered for him.

"Ryoko didn't want Tenchi to go so she electrocuted him."

_"D'oh!"_ Tenchi cringed.

"Well, why didn't you just say so!" Washu accepted the answer without any problem. "It's not like you would have been much help anyway." She tried, unsuccessfully, to soothe Tenchi's bruised ego. "Not unless you happen to have a spaceship handy."

Tenchi hung his head dejectedly. Washu had a point. But he did not feel right letting other people take care of his problems for him.

A flash on the viewscreen caught everyone's attention. A new ship, much larger than anything else, appeared from a swirling blue vortex. Once it cleared the spinning mass of energy, the vortex shrank and disappeared. A spiny brown blur zipped by, almost too fast to see. Washu quickly identified the relatively small shape.

"There's Ryo-o-ki! That's good. I think."

The blur came into focus when it suddenly spun to a stop. Washu started handing out shaded goggles as Ryo-o-ki's energy build-up began to manifest itself.

"Better put these on." She suggested.

Just as everyone got his or her goggles on, Ryo-o-ki fired. The enemy ship exploded magnificently, accompanied by sounds of appreciation from those watching. The audience tossed their goggles aside.

When the explosion cleared, much of the fighting had stopped. There were still shots being fired sporadically by the Juraian ships as the invaders apparently fled.

"Where are Ryo-o-ki and Yukinojo?" Tenchi asked. Washu's hands blazed across the control panel, searching for the wayward ships. A small window appeared in one corner of the viewscreen. The data it displayed changed so rapidly no one but Washu could possibly comprehend it.

"Found them." Washu shortly announced. A green box surrounded each of the ships, accompanied by a small tag identifying which was which.

"And as long as we're at it..." Washu assigned red boxes to the invaders' vessels, filling the screen with red. Most of them were congregated in a large group out of range of the Juraian ships. Another group, smaller than the first, but still hundreds strong, was surrounding Ryo-o-ki.

Alarmed, Tenchi began looking for a way to contact Ryoko.

"Washu, where's the radio?" Tenchi asked, scanning the controls.

"Over there." Washu pointed out the console to him. "Why is she moving so slowly?" she asked aloud.

Tenchi approached the communications console intending to warn Ryoko of the impending danger. But the device was completely foreign to him.

"Agh! I don't know how to use this!" He complained. Washu got up to activate the unit for him as the enemy ships began firing.

"Washu!" Tenchi urgently prompted her, getting more impatient by the moment.

"This isn't your father's radio set, Tenchi!" Washu tried to explain. "Set the power level too high and you'll cook whoever you want to talk to!"

But Tenchi did not feel like waiting and was starting to look very worried.

"There!" Washu announced just as Ryo-o-ki exploded into a seething ball of flaming energy. The force of the explosion crushed the surrounding fighters. A piece of one of the ships hurtled directly at the monitor.

"Hang on!" Washu recommended, gripping the arm of her chair with both hands.

The screen went to static. A moment later, the entire station shook with the impact. The deck heaved, knocking everyone to the floor. The lights flickered momentarily, then came back on. A number of alarms began wailing their need for attention. Little Sasami held her hands to her ears, trying to mute the frightening sounds. Nobuyuki, having recovered from his earlier flight, saw Sasami's distress and held her to his chest.

"Hey, Washu!" He shouted. "How about them alarms!?"

"Sorry. Sorry." Washu answered as she deactivated the alarm glaxons. "I forgot how loud those things are."

The overworked entrance door slid open again, admitting Aeka and her brother.

"What was that all about?" Aeka demanded. She looked around and saw Tenchi kneeling before the control console, staring at the floorboards.

"Lord Tenchi!" She rushed to his side. "What happened? Are you all right?"

Tenchi ignored Aeka's questions for the moment. He had more important questions to ask Washu.

"Washu, tell me they're all right."

"I'm looking." Washu's hands were flying across the console even faster than before. She took a moment before answering. "Mihoshi and Yukinojo are still there. Ryo-o-ki... damn, Ryo-o-ki was destroyed. But she'll regenerate." Washu was quick to add in the regeneration part. "No sign of Ryoko, yet."

Tenchi closed his eyes and bit his lip. For a moment all was quiet as Washu tried to locate the missing person. The worried atmosphere quickly changed when a voice came in over the local transceiver.

"Attention, invading vessels." A familiar feminine voice announced. "Surrender immediately or be destroyed."

Ryoko's voice could be heard in the background.

"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing giving them a chance to surrender?"

"It's the honorable thing to do." The first voice answered.

"Honor?! You've gotta be kidding! Here, let me do it."

There were sounds of a small scuffle. Those listening aboard both the station and the ships outside were wondering very seriously about their chances of survival with those two out there.

"Come on, Ryoko!" The first voice pleaded. "Hinase is my ship! You can't just take over like that!"

With that information, everyone on Washu's station knew who had come to help.

"Minagi?" They all asked together.

A smaller screen eclipsed the viewscreen. It showed both Minagi and Ryoko aboard Hinase. They were struggling over a strange looking console with many tubes and bundles of wire attached to it. Various control crystals zipped by in the background, minding the ships functions. One of them stayed stationary just in view. The twins looked at the monitor in surprise. They quickly straightened themselves out. Their actions were so similar it was like looking at mirror reflections of the same person in different clothes. Ryoko, having had more experience tidying up after fights with Aeka, was finished first.

"Done yet?"

"Just a sec... Hang on... there." Minagi took a deep breath. "Hi everybody!"

The Masakis all gave their own greetings.

"Great timing, Minagi!" Washu complemented her. "How did you happen to be in this part of space?" Washu's natural curiosity demanded she find out.

"Mmm. I heard Ryoko call for help yesterday. I was so far away it took that long to get here." The girls all knowingly looked at Tenchi. "When I got to Jurai, half the navy was gone and the place was in an uproar. So, I followed the ships."

"Miss Minagi," Aeka broke in, "I hate to impose, but could you lend us a hand? We're in the midst of a crisis and the Jurai Empire could use your assistance."

Both Minagi and Ryoko smiled.

"Got it covered, Princess." Ryoko excitedly responded.

"Oh, yes." Minagi reassured Aeka. "We are definitely going to help."

"Hinase! Are we in position?"

"Yes, ma'am." The computer intelligence answered her.

"We've been in position for five minutes." Ryoko muttered. If Minagi heard Ryoko's comment, she chose to ignore it. She was way too into her role as pirate captain.

"Lock targets!" Minagi commanded.

"We already did all that!" Ryoko yelled at her. "That's it. I'm pushing the button." She went towards the controls.

"No! Wait! At least shut down the sensor screen first! I don't want to blow out half the ship's power circuits." Minagi insisted.

"Fine. Sensor screen... off. Now can I?"

The early warning detection alarm went off in the station's command center. Tired of the constant ear shattering alarms, Washu wrenched the control panel right out of its mount and tossed it over her shoulder like so much garbage. Minagi and Ryoko glared at the interruption.

"Sorry about that. Please. Continue."

"Ryoko." Minagi called for attention. She extended her arm and hand towards the viewscreen.

"Open fire!"

The communications screen shrank to its minimal size of a small box in the corner. On the rest of the main screen, a green box of Washu's creation, and several hundred angry fighters of unknown creation surrounded Hinase. A swarm of tightly packed missiles emerged from newly installed weapons pods on Hinase's hull. The missiles tracked the small fighters and destroyed them en masse. Any ship that got too close was immediately sliced into pieces by a point defense laser system. Ryoko could still be heard over the audio link.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Get some! Hey, Washu! Can we hook one of these up to Ryo-o-ki when she regenerates?"

"Oh, the second most powerful ship in the known universe isn't good enough for you anymore?" Washu asked. Ryoko just laughed. She was enjoying winning for once. Little red boxes were disappearing at an impressive rate. Not more than sixty seconds after they began firing, the last box vanished.

A new comm-screen opened on the display, revealing Mihoshi in her Galaxy Police uniform.

"Oh, there you are! Is everything all right?"

"Yes, Miss Mihoshi." Aeka answered her. "We're all fine here." She was about to ask the same of Mihoshi, but Tenchi beat her to it.

"What about you Mihoshi? You weren't hurt, were you?"

"No. I'm fine." Mihoshi's face turned red. "Oh, but it's so kind of you to ask about me!" She started giggling and babbling about how generally nice Tenchi was. Fortunately, Yukinojo was listening, and interrupted the detective before she got too carried away.

"Miss Mihoshi."

She ignored the voice.

Yukinojo dialed up its volume control.

"Miss Mihoshi!" Mihoshi realized she was being addressed.

"Huh? What is it, Yukinojo?"

"Wasn't there something else you wanted to ask?"

"Was there?"

Small teardrops began forming on the heads of those watching. Mihoshi's face suddenly brightened.

"Oh, yes. I remember now!"

Aeka muttered under her breath.

"Will wonders never cease?"

Mihoshi continued with her questioning.

"I was wondering. Do any of you know who's ship just arrived?"

Aeka was getting frustrated. Though getting frustrated was rather easy with Mihoshi, she seemed to take offense at almost anything these days.

"Don't tell me you don't remember Minagi? In your case, I can understand forgetting about Azaka and Kamedake. But forgetting Miss Minagi is inexcusable. And as for..."

As Aeka continued her diatribe, Mihoshi pulled out her notepad and began searching through the pages.

"Minagi, Minagi. I know I've heard that name somewhere before." She said, flipping pages.

Seeing Mihoshi was ignoring he, Aeka sputtered to a stop. She tried to regain Mihoshi's attention.

"Miss Mihoshi! Are you listening to anything I'm saying?"

"Oh, here it is!" Mihoshi exclaimed, still ignoring Aeka. "I knew I had heard that name somewhere before."

Aeka fumed. For some inexplicable reason, her hair seemed mussed. Strands of hair stuck out in various directions. She imagined a quiet vacation away from the other lunatic girls.

"Vacation... yes. That's what I need. A vacation..."

Tenchi overheard Aeka talking to herself about a vacation. The idea of a quiet vacation, alone of course, appealed to him. He made the mistake of thinking aloud.

"Mmm... Sounds nice."

Hearing Tenchi agree with her, Aeka immediate mistook his rambling for an invitation.

"Really?" She asked, ecstatic that Tenchi actually wanted to spend some time alone with her.

"A vacation does sound nice." He told her, not realizing what he was getting himself into.

"So we can really go on a vacation alone together?" Aeka wanted to make sure Tenchi was promising to go with her.

Ryoko's voice cut in on the audio circuit.

"Hey. Hey! **Hey!** What do you think you're doing asking my Tenchi to go on a trip?"

"Hah!" Aeka responded, sensing victory. "Don't waste your time any further, Ryoko. Tenchi wouldn't go on a vacation with you because you would just turn it into a circus event. He wants a quiet vacation with a quiet woman who is considerate of his needs."

"Then you sure as hell don't qualify. The only one around here that can fulfill Tenchi's needs is me!" Ryoko's silky smooth tone insinuated much more that what Aeka had meant by "Tenchi's needs".

Aeka was about to launch into a major verbal assault on Ryoko when a stern male voice cleared its throat. Another comm-screen popped-up. This time it was her father, the King.

"Uhem! If you are done with this display, Aeka, there are other more important matters to attend to."

"But Father," she insisted, "did you hear the perverse things that woman was suggesting about Lord Tenchi?"

But her father had had enough.

"Aeka!"

The Princess gasped. She knew better than to cross her father when he used that tone. Everyone waited to hear what the King would say.

"Tenchi." He began. "I'm very disappointed in you. Associating with pirates, operating an unauthorized space-station, violating restricted space, and aiding and armed incursion!"

Azusa shook his head. Tenchi's grandfather tried to explain things to the angry monarch.

"Father," he began, but was cut-off.

"Silence!" Azusa nearly jumped from his throne. "Not another word from any of you!" He sat again, then began issuing orders to his subordinates.

"General!"

"Yes, sir!" Came the reply.

"Ready your men to board that station. Arrest everyone!"

"Everyone, sir?"

"Yes, everyone." He hissed. "Was I unclear?"

"No, Highness!"

Aboard Hinase, Ryoko had heard more than she cared for.

"Azusa, you son-of-a-bitch! Who the hell do you think you are!?" Sparks of energy began arcing through the air around her.

"We just saved your sorry ass back there, and this is the thanks we get?"

The King responded by issuing more orders.

"Admiral!"

"Yes, sir!"

"I want that ship taken intact if possible, in very small pieces if not."

"Aye, sir! Batteries take aim!" The unknown Admiral relayed to the other ships.

Ryoko released her grip on the now misshapen weapons panel she had used earlier. In a more controlled voice, she told the King how things would be if he did not listen to reason.

"It seems you've forgotten just who it is you're dealing with." Ryoko sent a dangerous glare through the viewscreen. "Maybe I should come over there and remind you."

The two stared at each other fiercely, neither of them willing to back down. The tension was so thick, nobody could move. Tenchi decided he had better try to diffuse the situation before it degraded irreversibly. He opened his mouth to appeal to Ryoko to let it go. Instead of his own voice, he heard the voice of Lady Funaho.

"That won't be necessary."

Yet another comm-screen popped-up on the already cluttered viewscreen. Funaho stood aboard the bridge of her own ship, Mizuho.

A voice reported on the new arrival.

"Lady Funaho has arrived with reinforcements, sire."

"Yes, I see that." Azusa acknowledged.

"Really, Azusa. Is all this necessary? Ryoko was only acting on the instructions I gave her."

"Funaho!" The King was beside himself. "You can't be serious!"

Funaho giggled at the King's display. Something about her husband's very serious ways always made her laugh. He and Tenchi were very much alike in that regard.

"It's not what you think, dear." Funaho held-up a scroll and proceeded to read from it.

"Be it known to all who shall read this, that the Holy Council of Jurai, after careful and deliberate discourse at the behest of the Royal family do make this proclamation."

"Henceforth, the First Princess shall no longer be required to marry by her twenty-first birthday. Such an arrangement is no longer required for the safety and security of the Holy Empire of Jurai and is counter to the spirit of freedom that the people of Jurai so greatly value. Blah, blah, et cetera, et cetera, more official language."

Funaho dropped the scroll on the ground then dry-wiped her hands, as if washing herself of the whole dirty business. Misaki popped up next to Funaho. She wrapped one arm around her sister-in-law's shoulders and gave them a victory sign, along with a big smile.

The First Prince laughed.

"Ha, ha, ha-ha! Well done! Congratulations, Father, on stopping the first invasion of Jurai. History will surely remember your name on this glorious day."

Nobuyuki whispered to Aeka.

"Lays it on kind of thick, doesn't he?"

"Brother Yosho is very astute in the ways of the royal court." She quietly answered.

"So that's what you call it, eh?"

On the bridge of his ship, Azusa relaxed. He could live with what his wife was offering him this day. Though his plan had not come out the way he desired, the position of the Masaki family would be secure for a very long time to come.

"Very well. Funaho, Misaki, I leave the rest to you." With that the King of Jurai took his leave.

The comm-screen closed, revealing a small portion of space. As soon as it closed, everyone let out a sigh of relief. Washu stood on her chair and crossed her arms.

"I leave the rest to you." She mimicked Azusa in a very low and serious tone.

Everyone but Ryoko immediately fell to the ground, rolling around laughing like lunatics.

END.

AFTERWORD:

No, that's not quite the end. There is an epilogue. Long due recognition will finally be given in chapter 5: Junk Mail.

Also, I wanted to make a point. Azusa really does care a great deal about his family. When he found out about a way to bring his elder daughter back to Jurai, where he perceived she would be safer, he jumped at the chance. Unfortunately, he was raised with Seto looking over his shoulder the whole time. So, he tends to be a little over-bearing sometimes.

This little point is important. But, I didn't feel it deserved a chapter or paragraph of it's own, simply because it wasn't very interesting, except as background. Therefore, I present that information to you, here.

You can expect to read of appearances by the other characters Hitoshi Okuda described in volume 3.


	5. Junk Mail

****

INVASION, Volume 1, Part 5: Junk Mail.

DISCLAIMER: "TENCHI MUYO!" is copyright AIC/Pioneer, LDC. I claim no rights to any of the characters. However, the events portrayed in this work are of my own imagination, so please don't copy it. Feel free to disseminate as widely as possible.

FOREWORD: I have assumed the seasons on Jurai are not in sync with the seasons on Earth. Also, although I have no reference for the physical characteristics of planet Jurai, I have found that Jurai's moon is 1/13 the size of Jupiter (WOW!).

AUTHOR: Dreamr

LAST REVISION: 06 February 2003

E-MAIL: TrueDreamr@Hotmail.com

BEGIN.

A stiff breeze blew across the top of the Jurai Royal Palace. The clouds had cleared overnight, and the morning sun shown down on the great Capitol City. The breeze carried a slight chill with it, a sign of the changing seasons. On the ground below, many of the trees had begun to assume their autumn colors. People milled about, attending to whatever business they had this morning. Periodically, someone would pause to admire the golden leaves, as if paying homage to the end of summer, and the beginning of fall.

The restless windpicked up one of the leaves and blew it over the roof of the palace and into Ryoko's face. She swatted away the annoyance. The leaf flew past her and slapped Tenchi in the face just as he emerged from the same dimensional hole he had used two days ago. Tenchi also tossed the leaf aside. The wind slackened for a moment, allowing its plaything to rest upon the palace roof.

"Ah-ha. I thought so." Tenchi smirked, self-satisfied he was finally getting to understand the girl before him by tracking her down. He climbed the rest of the way out onto the roof.

"I guess you really like these high places, huh?"

"Nobody can bug me when I come up here." Ryoko explained.

"Nobody except the construction crew, right?"

Two hundred meters to Ryoko's left, a repair crew was busy working on the damage she had done to the roof. They hadn't got much work done with how much time they spent staring at her. Ryoko had been considering showing them how the hole had been made when Tenchi arrived. At least they were out of earshot. 

"Everyone's waiting for you." Tenchi reminded her.

"Let 'em wait."

"Ryoko..." Came Tenchi's expected admonishment.

"It's not over."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Whoever sent those ships will send more. Whoever sent the assassin will send another." Ryoko revealed her concerns.

"You don't know that."

Frustrated, Ryoko whirled around and grabbed Tenchi by the shirt collar. He was wearing that same outfit the servants insisted he had to wear because he was a prince.

"What if I'm right? When we go back to Okayama, they might follow us! And you'll be in danger again!"

As Ryoko expected, Tenchi did not give her warning any real credence. He always chose the worst times to be cavalier about his own safety.

"Maybe. But... I'm not worried."

Frustrated, Ryoko turned back around to look out over the distance. Or perhaps just to avoid Tenchi's eyes.

"How can you be like that?"

This gave Tenchi cause to consider Ryoko's words. Why was he so unconcerned? The answer came to him almost immediately.

"Because I believe in my friends."

Ryoko had to laugh a little.

"Friends... heh.... Is that all I am to you?"

"What's wrong with that?" Tenchi was suddenly struck with a disturbing thought. "We are still friends, right?"

Ryoko half-turned to Tenchi, wondering what he was talking about. Why would Tenchi think she didn't like him anymore? Tenchi's eyes got big for a moment. Then he relaxed.

"I understand." Tenchi bowed deeply to Ryoko. He rapidly blurted out the most insane thing she had ever heard from him.

"I apologize for not trusting you. I don't deserve to be your friend anymore. I'll be going." Without looking up, Tenchi turned to leave. He nearly jumped out of his skin when Ryoko appeared right in front of him. She grabbed his shirt again and yelled directly into his face.

"Damn it, Tenchi! Don't you understand that I love you?" Tears began flowing freely down Ryoko's face as the restraints she kept tightly wrapped around her emotions came completely unraveled. The thought of losing Tenchi for the third time in as many days was too much, even for her. "You... big... stupid... dumb... block-head! I've always... I..." Managing one more ragged breath before her tears began in earnest, she clutched Tenchi as a child would its parent during a thunderstorm.

Tenchi stood beside himself. He wrapped his arms around Ryoko, holding her close while she cried into his neck. Her warm tears trickled down the neck of his coat.

"I thought... I don't know. You're right. I am a stupid, dumb, block-head." Tenchi did not say anything more for fear of making matters worse. He rested his cheek against Ryoko's head, risking the points of her bristly hair.

After a couple of minutes, Ryoko's highly unusual crying jag spent itself. Taking a couple of deep breaths, she stretched her arms up around Tenchi's neck and whispered into his ear.

"You're not dumb and stupid."

"Ryoko, I'm truly sorry for being so inconsiderate of your feelings."

"All right." Ryoko lifted her head and with one hand wiped the wetness from her face. She looked Tenchi in the eyes. "But you're still a block-head for making me cry."

Tenchi wanted Ryoko to forgive him, but he was getting the feeling any further apology would be either painful or expensive. Probably both.

"Er... Ah, so-o-o... how can I make it up to you?" He slowly asked.

Ryoko drew her face so close to his, Tenchi could feel her warm breath against his skin.

"You have to kiss me." She told him, closing her eyes.

At least it was not painful or expensive. Tenchi had already decided that as long as it was not too outlandish, he would fulfill her request. A kiss... Tenchi closed his eyes. A kiss didn't seem like too much to ask.

As Tenchi leaned forward to complete the proscribed penance, Ryoko's hands tightened around his neck. Now that he had made up his mind for this one-time apology, he actually found he was looking forward to it. When Ryoko's breath caressed his face again, he finally gave in and closed the distance between them. Their lips touched. The work-crew cheered.

**WORK CREW!?**

Tenchi and Ryoko both whipped their heads around in the same direction. The members of the repair team were cheering them on. Tenchi released Ryoko, blushing. Ryoko jumped up and down, screaming at the gawking workers.

"**AAAAAAA!!! **What are you guys staring at? Get back to work you slackers!" She was so mad the surrounding air began to get significantly warmer. The work crew suddenly found they had a great deal of work to complete. They attacked their task as if their very lives depended on it. As Tenchi watched on, he suddenly remembered why he had come to get Ryoko.

"Ryoko, I just remembered. I'm supposed to bring you to the main hall so... you..." Tenchi's voice trailed off. Ryoko was now giving him the "I have a better idea" look. Her penetrating stare always put him on edge.

"You're not off the hook, yet." She grabbed his hand then jumped down through the dimensional hole, dragging Tenchi along. They passed through the hole and into a dimly lit hallway just beneath the roof. Ryoko expertly touched down, while Tenchi nearly crashed to the floor.

"Whew." Tenchi breathed a sigh of relief at his mostly safe landing. "You know, we could have used the ladder to get down." He informed Ryoko, as she looked left then right. She seemed satisfied with whatever it was she saw, or possibly what she did not see.

"Hmm... Nice and dim, nobody around... perfect." She pulled Tenchi close against her body. "Now where were we...?" Determined to get her apology from the reluctant young prince, Ryoko bent her neck forward to kiss Tenchi.

"Ahem!" A soft feminine voice cleared itself from within the shadows. Surprised, Ryoko turned to see whom this new interruption could be attributed to. Her surprise faded as when Aeka stepped forth from the darkness underneath the ladder.

"Aeka! Were you watching us, you peeping-tom-boy?"

"Peeping-... tom-boy?!" Aeka asked in shock. "I should slap you silly for insinuating I would violate someone's privacy in such a vulgar manner."

"Go ahead!" Ryoko taunted her. "Hit me! I dare you!" She stuck her chin out. "Right here. Come on." Aeka only stood there, fuming.

"Still not good enough? I know! How about this?" Ryoko put her hands behind her back and closed her eyes.

Sparks flew from Aeka's teeth as she ground them together. It took her a moment to come up with a suitable comeback.

"I don't want you to think that I don't... appreciate... your kind offer, but I'm afraid we don't have time to play right now, Miss Ryoko." Aeka turned to Tenchi. "Isn't that right, Lord Tenchi?"

"Yes, it is." Tenchi confirmed, relieved Aeka had not accepted Ryoko's challenge.

Ryoko withdrew the offer of her chin. She looked questioningly from Aeka to Tenchi.

"What for?"

Tenchi gave a mysterious answer.

"Lady Funaho said she wanted to see us in the council chamber."

"Yes, indeed." Aeka supported his answer. "Though why she would want to see you is beyond me."

Ryoko immediately took advantage of the verbal opening.

"Just like everything else."

"Will you give it a rest." Aeka chided her. She turned to take Tenchi's arm.

"Come along, Lord Tenchi."

"Hey!" Ryoko objected. "Tenchi's going with me!" She took Tenchi's other arm. Tenchi sighed.

"For the moment." Aeka responded cryptically, as they marched off to the appointment.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ryoko demanded.

"If you're having difficulty understanding, perhaps you should have Miss Washu examine your brain for frostbite."

"Oh, look who's talking! You were in the freezer just as long as I was. At least you had a choice about it!"

Tenchi muttered to himself.

"I wish I had a choice..."

"Did you say something?" Both girls asked him.

Tenchi sighed again, then gave his traditional response.

"No. It's nothing."

The two adversaries argued all the way to their destination. As soon as they arrived at the large double doors, Aeka instructed the guards to admit them. Tenchi tried to convince the girls to let him go in by himself.

"Is it really okay to go in like this?"

His escorts looked at him for a moment, then glared at each other. Aeka spoke first.

"It would be rather unseemly to enter with a self-proclaimed demoness on your arm, wouldn't it?"

"Uh... that's not-"

Ryoko didn't wait for Tenchi to defend her.

"Better a beautiful demon than an ugly princess."

"Wha? Who are you calling ugly, you... you... buck-toothed, knock-kneed, horse-faced **space-dog!?**"

Ryoko merely pointed forward, smiling broadly. Aeka looked forward to see the chamber doors open. The Master at Arms was just finishing the introductions. Within, the entire Holy Council of Jurai and the Royal Family waited for them. They began applauding politely. Aeka was mortified. Had they witnessed her outburst? She sank back as far as she could into the hood of her royal vestments.

"You'll pay for that." She promised Ryoko, just loud enough to be heard.

"I'm looking forward to it." Ryoko assured her.

"Can we go now?" Tenchi prompted them a moment before he started down the aisle to the center of the chamber.

The doors shut behind them with a ponderous thud. Ponderously thudding portals always gave Ryoko an uneasy sense. If they wanted to try something funny she would be happy to rearrange the place. She kept her eyes open just in case.

The expressions on the people's faces were as varied as the people themselves. Most seemed fairly impartial. But for every person that looked pleased, there was another who looked displeased. A few went so far as to openly sneer or scowl. They did not show any reaction when she bared her fangs for them. Of course, she did not really have fangs. Her bicuspids were just a little longer than average. When they reached the center of the chamber, Aeka gave them further instructions.

"Lord Tenchi is with me, along with the rest of the Royal Family. Ryoko, all you have to do is stand right here. Do you think you can manage that?"

"I don't know. It's pretty hard for me to stay in one place for long."

To Tenchi and Aeka's surprise, Ryoko willingly relinquished her hold on Tenchi's arm when Aeka tried to lead him away. She simply stood there, waiting patiently for whatever might happen next.

When Aeka and Tenchi took their seats, the ovation finally quieted. Aeka looked completely at ease in her place on high. On the other end of the spectrum, Tenchi looked so out of place dressed-up and on display, that Ryoko was suddenly seized by the urge to kidnap **him** next time, and take him to some place they could be alone together and no one would make demands on them. She temporarily suppressed the urge. It would be interesting to see what these people had in mind for her. Kidnapping Tenchi could come later.

Along with Aeka and Sasami's parents, Seto was present, as well. She calmly sat near to the King with a detached air of absolute confidence. The woman made eye contact with her. Ryoko felt her soul freeze, not in terror, but in respect. The woman's aura was incredible. This was a person she would not like to have angry with her. 

The President of the Holy Council introduced the first speaker.

"Royal Highnesses, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Council, I introduce the Minister of Intelligence, her Royal Highness, Lady Funaho."

Funaho rose to the applause of the Council. She descended from her place to the speakers' pit where she would address the Council not as a queen, but as a servant of the people. The applause grew more thunderous, as the gesture was not lost on those present. She addressed Ryoko privately when she reached the center of the pit.

"Ryoko, please, turn around and face the Holy Council. You'll want to see their expressions when I give them the news." She winked at the young woman.

Ryoko's curiosity was operating at full intensity now. She turned to see what would happen. Funaho gestured to the Council for silence so she could speak. Coincidentally, it was the same gesture her husband used.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Holy Council, today we close an old chapter in our history and open another."

"Two days ago our great nation was invaded by an unknown enemy."

Murmurs rippled through the people. They had heard something had happened. But this was their first official briefing.

"His Highness, our King, personally led the interception force."

A few voices of approval could be heard in the crowd. Funaho continued in a more serious tone.

"Unfortunately, three fourth generation ships were lost."

Those present were shocked into silence. Not a breath could be heard. It was widely accepted that Juraian ships are the most powerful in the galaxy. Three being destroyed in a single engagement had not occurred since the events of seven hundred years ago.

"I can see there is no need to impress upon you the seriousness of such losses. However, I am happy to report that the engagement was a success, due in large part to assistance rendered both before and during the battle by certain intelligence assets which I am unable to identify for security reasons."

There were a few chuckles in the council chamber. Most of those present were familiar with the concept of "intelligence assets".

"This brings me to events of the past; and I stress the word 'past'. I'm sure everyone present remembers the report made by Galaxy Police Detective Mihoshi Kuramitsu."

There were more chuckles from several council members who had worked the four days to summarize Mihoshi's exhaustive report.

"That report spoke in depth of the fate of my son, Yosho, and the woman known as Ryoko." Funaho paused, expecting some sort of outburst. But there was none. The Council waited patiently for her to continue.

"Detective Mihoshi indicated that Ryoko was under a form of mind-control, a barbarous and despicable act, and not acting of her own free-will when she attacked our planet. Since the defeat of the eternally wanted criminal Kagato by Prince Tenchi, Ryoko has been free to act on her own conscience, as evidenced by her assisting in the defense of the Holy Jurai Empire and King Azusa at great personal risk to herself. In fact, her own ship, Ryo-o-ki was destroyed in the battle."

Of course, Ryo-o-ki had regenerated and was now sitting between Washu and Mihoshi in the front row. A number of people had commented on how cute she looked in her dress. The Council did not need to know Ryo-o-ki could be regenerated. That was a piece of knowledge Mihoshi had not been around early enough to acquire.

"I dare say" Funaho continued "we would be without a King, and Lady Misaki and I would be without a husband if not for her."

Aeka could not believe what she was hearing. Ryoko had blasted a hole in the roof of the palace, she had destroyed a major sports complex, kidnapped the First Princess, namely herself, ruined her potential wedding to Tenchi, and was now being praised for it! Even though Lady Funaho had planned and authorized the entire event to counter the invasion, Aeka did not feel Ryoko should be given accolades for acting selfishly. She turned to address her mother. She received a very stern look in response. Aeka faced forward again and sulked.

Ryoko was having difficulties similar to Aeka's. Though the basic facts were intact, Funaho had altered the story to let everyone save as much face as possible. Even more amazing, she was being publicly thanked. Ryoko had been expecting to be politely told "Thank you for helping, but we would be really embarrassed to acknowledge you in public, so please go home quietly." This was totally new to her. Funaho turned to address her.

"Miss Ryoko, my husband has something he wishes to tell you."

The Holy Council and its guests directed their attention to the King of Jurai as Funaho and Ryoko turned to see what he had to say.

"Ehem!" Azusa cleared his throat. "The Royal Family wishes to recognize the assistance freely given in defense of the Holy Jurai Empire and its people, as well as a lack of implication in any past events. Therefore, I do hereby pardon Ryoko for any and all crimes she may have committed."

The King appeared to have completed his statement. But Funaho and Misaki were still giving him the hairy-eyeball. They were expecting more.

"Uh... On behalf of the people of Jurai I..." Azusa gritted his teeth, "...thank you." Finished, the King sank back into his throne, relieved at having finished his distasteful task.

Ryoko stood gaping in the center of the Council chamber. A pardon? Technically it was just a gesture, since the statute of limitations had taken effect. But it was still a public pardon, something she had never expected to receive. Some of the things she had done had never even been traced to her and probably did not deserve to be forgiven. But the wording was explicit. She had been given a blanket pardon. Nothing could come back to haunt her now. It was a fresh start.

Someone started clapping. Ryoko looked towards the source of the sound and saw Tenchi, on his feet, applauding. Others began following his example. Soon the entire Council Chamber was echoing with applause. Her face turned red from bottom to top. She could remember being embarrassed before, but it had felt nothing like this. Funaho leaned in close to be heard over the crowd.

"I do believe you're blushing." Her comment just made it worse. Ryoko's face went from red to crimson.

"I...uh...we- I... err-" Ryoko tripped over her own tongue. "I only did it because Tenchi asked me to. How many times do I have to tell you people that?"

"Of course you did."

"If you're done with the public display I'd like to take Tenchi home now."

"Be my guest, dear."

A few days after the Masaki family returned to Okayama, Tenchi was coming home from school. The guardians, Azaka and Kamidake, who had returned as well, were posted at their usual place by the front gate. They greeted him in their traditional manner.

"Good afternoon, Lord Tenchi."

"Afternoon, guys. How was the day?"

"About as can be expected." Azaka answered.

"Peaceful and quiet." Kamidake added.

"Really? That's amazing!" Tenchi remarked as he pushed open the gate. "Did anyone get the mail today?"

"I'm afraid not." Azaka spun around to reveal an overflowing mail receptacle.

"Yeah, imagine that. Thanks." Tenchi retrieved the day's mail.

"Pleased to be of service, Lord Tenchi."

On his way up the trail to the house Tenchi sorted through the posts, looking for anything important. To his surprise, he found a letter for Ryoko mixed in with all the bills and junk mail. There was no return address, but there were lots of foreign postage stamps. Having arrived at the front door, Tenchi went in and announced himself.

"I'm home!"

Someone grabbed his rear.

"Eyahhh!!!" Tenchi yelled in fright, dropping the mail. He spun around to see who had grabbed him. Ryoko was standing behind him, giggling mischievously.

"For crying out loud! How many times do I have to tell you no to do things like that?!"

"But you look so funny when I do." 

Ryoko was smiling brightly, obviously enjoying herself. Tenchi squatted down to pick-up the mail he had dropped, muttering to himself.

"But it scares the crap out of me every time you do that."

Aeka rushed into the hallway to see what was going on.

"Of course! Miss Ryoko, will you never tire of your silly games?"

"What? I'm just showing Tenchi how much I love him."

"If that's how you show affection, I'm surprised Lord Tenchi hasn't died of fright!"

Seeing the quiet and peaceful day Azaka had mentioned earlier flying out the window (pardon the pun), Tenchi decided to reveal today's posts.

"Aeka could you take these to Grandpa up at the shrine?"

"Uh... Of course. I would be happy to. I'm glad you trust me with such an important task." She gave Ryoko a smug look.

"Bye-bye. Have fun climbing all those steps!"

Aeka turned and stalked off towards the rear door.

"Ryoko," Tenchi asked, "wasn't today your day to bring in the mail?"

"Well, there's never any for me, so why should I bother?" She stuck her hands behind her head and looked away.

"Oh, then I guess you don't want this, then?"

Tenchi held the letter out to his side opposite Ryoko.

"For me?" She asked, curious. She leaned to one side to get a better look at the letter.

"Only if you promise not to skip your chores anymore." Tenchi would not have really denied Ryoko her letter. But any chance to impress upon her the importance of completing her housework was not to be ignored.

"Yeah, yeah, right..." Ryoko tried to get past Tenchi both physically and verbally. Tenchi kept himself between the girl and her letter.

"Promise." he insisted.

"All right, already! I promise. Jeez..."

Tenchi handed over the letter. Ryoko shredded the envelope getting to the contents. Tenchi sat down on the ledge below her, finally getting an opportunity to take off his shoes.

"Who's it from?"

Ryoko scoffed at the contents of the envelope.

"Nobody. It's nothing. Just junk. I'll throw it away." she declared.

"Are you sure?" Tenchi asked. "Maybe I should look at it just in case."

"No! I mean... no. Don't worry. It's junk."

Ryoko flew upstairs before Tenchi could insist any further. Once she reached her room, she took out one of her earrings. She held it in the same hand as the letter. With her other hand, she grasped the metal loop and straightened it, making a pin.

Holding the letter and its associated document against the wall, Ryoko drove the pin through it, affixing it to the wall so she would not forget to throw it out later.

That night, when Ryoko went to bed, she saw the document pinned to the wall and reminded herself to throw the useless paper away the next day. It went on like that everyday. Soon, other things began finding places on the wall next to it. Pictures mostly. She started calling it her Wall of Junk. Nestled between all the other junk, Ryoko's Royal Certificate of Pardon never did get thrown out.

END CHAPTER 5.

AFTERWORD: My apologies if the scene in the Council chamber seemed a little over-the-top. But the exchange between Ryoko and Aeka on the way back went so well; I didn't want to edit it out. In addition, I personally felt Ryoko deserved some sort of acknowledgement for being controlled by Kagato when she attacked Jurai.

Volume two is in the works. Those of you who have been keeping up with current events know Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-o-ki OVA part 3 is currently being produced. According to Masaki Kajishima, a new character, tentatively known as "Z", will appear. Mr. K. says he and Tenchi will have an issue to deal with. The next volume of my fanfic will deal with that. Be ready for some surprises.

Before volume 2 starts, I have something else to add in. Think of it as a "Special", similar to the Ryo-o-ki and Mihoshi Specials. Its called Interlude One: Christmas Eve, and it takes place between volumes 1 and 2. You don't have to read it to understand the later events. But there will be some interesting foreshadowing.

For all you Mihoshi fans, she gets to shine for once!

I was wondering, though. Can Ryoko wear real earrings? Or would her body be resistant to piercings? I took a guess on that one. If she can control her body enough to keep herself drunk, then I figure she can force a piercing to stay, as well.


	6. Christmas Eve

****

INVASION, Interlude 1: Christmas Eve.

DISCLAIMER: The characters within this story are the property of AIC/Pioneer LDC. Inc. The events within this story are entirely of my own imagination so please don't change or copy them. Feel free to distribute as widely as desired.

FOREWORD: This story takes place between volumes 1 and 2 of the fan fiction INVASION, written by myself. It is not required to read this story to understand any of the previous or following events. However, there is a certain amount of foreshadowing that many may find interesting.

As I understand it, the cultural significance of Christmas and New Year's Eve are opposite in Japan from what they are in America. Christmas Eve is when friends and couples go out, and New Year is for family gatherings. I'm sure that if anyone disagrees they'll send me a correction via e-mail.

I would also appreciate comments and criticisms about my explanation of Ryoko's ability to understand all spoken languages.

Just a small historical note: I wrote the majority of this story shortly after the events of September 11th, 2001. As a military service member stationed within 300 miles of New York City, I felt the need to administer some ass whooping to some terrorists. I hope no one holds that against me.

Also, I truly believe that if the gang were aware of said events, they would have helped with the rescue effort.

Many thanks to Misters Kajishima Masaki and Okuda Hitoshi for enriching my life.

Author: Dreamr

Last Revision: 28 May 2002

E-mail: TrueDreamr@Hotmail.com

BEGIN INTERLUDE 1.

Ryoko forlornly gazed at her never-worn black dress. She had acquired a few things that she simply could not make herself disintegrate and reproduce as she normally did. Besides the things on her "Junk-Wall", there was this dress. She could just put the damn thing on and parade around the house. However, she would not be satisfied with merely being seen in it. She wanted to wear it for a special occasion.

_"Damn! There has to be something coming up."_

Tenchi had said he had a day off from school next week. Ryoko had not thought much of it at the time. Now that she was in the right frame of mind, the possibilities began to multiply.

She went out onto the balcony to see who was around. Below her, Aeka, Sasami, and Mihoshi were sitting around, quietly reading. After Ryoko and Aeka had their evening of adventure, they had both sworn off comics. Yet, there was Aeka, reading them once more. If Aeka wanted to turn her brain to mush, it was fine with her.

Nobuyuki was at work, and Tenchi was at school. That left only the grandfather, Katsuhito. The last time Ryoko had thought to talk to him about Tenchi, she had seen him telling Mihoshi he wanted her to be Tenchi's girlfriend.

_"Errr..."_ Ryoko scratched the back of her head. She was not inclined to go talk to the guy. But, right now there was no one else.

Ryoko materialized in the middle of the Masaki Shrine itself. She looked around the Shinto shrine, but no one was around.

"Umm... hello? Anybody home?"

"Over here." The priest's voice emanated from the shrine office. Ryoko phased through the traditional rice-paper screen door. Katsuhito sat at a low table taking care of some paperwork. He looked up to confirm the identity of his visitor.

"So what brings you to my neighborhood?"

Ryoko took the question for the invitation it was and sat down across the table from him.

"What gives with everybody having the day off next week?"

"Ahh. So you're interested in a little bit of Earth history." Katsuhito set his pen down. He launched into a major explanation of the historical and religious significance of Christmas. About halfway through his lecture, the priest noticed his one-time student's attention was wandering. He decided to advance to the present cultural importance of the day.

"Or perhaps you would like to know the real reason we get Christmas day off?"

"'Bout time." Ryoko grumbled.

"It's so all the friends and couples who went out the night before have a chance to get sober."

Ryoko laughed.

"Now that's a holiday! So how come we stayed home last year?"

"It was Tenchi's idea. Maybe you should ask him when he gets home."

Ryoko's attention drifted again.

"Ask Tenchi... hmmm..."

Katsuhito could almost hear the wheels turning in Ryoko's head. Maybe he should not have told her quite so much. The corners of Ryoko's mouth turned slightly upwards into the barest of grins. She was definitely planning something.

"I think I will ask Tenchi." Ryoko said just before disappearing.

Katsuhito sat in contemplation for a few minutes. As near as he could figure, Ryoko was probably planning to ask Tenchi out on Christmas Eve. That was not bad in and of itself. She was certainly free to ask his grandson for a date anytime that she liked. By the same token, so were the other girls. A plan of his own began to take shape in Katsuhito's mind. He decided he should find out just how much Aeka knew about Christmas.

Aeka sat quietly in the main room of the Masaki home. The comic she was reading was very entertaining. She had laughed and giggled through the entire first chapter.

The next chapter was just as funny, with some more serious themes. Aeka's attention was especially drawn to a section where the shy male character was struggling over whether or not to ask the female character for a date on Christmas Eve.

Aeka had begun to notice a common thread in these comics. Christmas Eve seemed to hold some sort of special significance on Earth.

It was then that Grandfather Katsuhito ambled into the room. He headed straight for Aeka.

"Well, Aeka. I thought you had sworn off those comics."

"True. Later I realized there is nothing inherently wrong with them, so long as one does not follow their example."

"Ohh. That's a very mature attitude to take on the subject."

Aeka was a little surprised. Her brother rarely handed out such glittering compliments.

"Ah, thank you. But, I have to admit I'm a little curious about something. Is there some special meaning about Christmas Eve?"

Her brother's eyes lit up. He answered in the same manner as with Ryoko.

"Ahh. So you're interested in a little bit of Earth history." He proceeded to give Aeka, word-for-word, the exact lecture he had given Ryoko. As expected, Aeka's attention also wandered halfway through, although she was better at hiding it. At least this time he got to finish the lecture. In addition, he also gave Aeka some advice he had not needed to give Ryoko.

"At least, that's the official reason."

Aeka perked up at his conspiratorial tone.

"Unofficially, here in Japan, it's an opportunity for young couples to spend a romantic evening together."

Aeka carefully considered the information he had given her, along with its relevance to her interest in Tenchi.

"I see. Thank you, Brother, for the... history lesson."

"Anytime." Katsuhito secretly wondered how long it would be before Aeka and Ryoko would clash over a date with Tenchi next week. The holidays were definitely shaping up to be very exciting this year.

As the head of the household expected, the aforementioned confrontation did occur. Just not in the manner he expected. It began innocently enough with a small argument over control of the television.

"No way, Aeka!" Ryoko complained, "I called it first!"

"You did not!" Aeka argued, "That sort of show will rot your brain. Not that I care if you rot your own brain, but I want mine to stay intact!" With that she gave a mighty tug on the remote.

Ryoko was tempted to let go just to see Aeka fall on her butt, but then she would loose control of the remote. She settled for more insults.

"With your taste in entertainment, it's a wonder your brain is intact to begin with!"

"Well, at least my idea of entertainment doesn't involve terrorizing the entire galaxy!"

The television remote began to stretch between them.

"At least I don't terrorize the galaxy when I sing karaoke!"

Aeka leaned over the super-elongated remote.

"My singing voice is ten-times better than yours!"

Ryoko's face twisted into a malevolent grin.

"Then prove it!" She challenged the princess.

"You're on!" Aeka accepted. "Mihoshi! Break out the karaoke machine!"

"Yay!" Mihoshi cried. "Let's have fun!"

Ryoko and Aeka waited impatiently while Mihoshi set-up the karaoke machine. They eyed each other warily. Ryoko was about to bait the final trap when Aeka suddenly stole her thunder.

"I have an idea. Why don't we make things a little more interesting?"

Ryoko's surprise showed on her face. Aeka's idea sounded almost exactly like her own.

"I'm listening."

"How about if we make a small wager."

"A bet, huh?" Ryoko smiled. She had been thinking the same thing. "Like what?"

"Whichever of us wins gets to take Tenchi out on Christmas Eve."

Ryoko's smile grew even bigger.

"Deal!"

_"Well. That was easy."_ Aeka started getting an uneasy feeling.

Sasami came in from the kitchen. She had just finished cleaning up after dinner and was curious what all the commotion was about.

"Are you guys going to karaoke tonight?"

Ryoko examined the distended remote control she and Aeka had been fighting over while Aeka answered Sasami.

"Yes, we are."

"Can I be the judge?"

Aeka considered the pros and cons of having her sister as a judge. It certainly would not hurt to have Sasami as a judge. It might even be beneficial. On the other hand, Sasami did get along well with Ryoko. At the worst, the contest would be fair.

"All right, Sasami." Aeka looked to Ryoko for confirmation. "Will that be acceptable to you?"

"Fine by me." Ryoko nonchalantly answered, tossing the ruined remote control over her shoulder.

"Are you done yet?" She asked of Mihoshi.

"All set!" Mihoshi informed the impatient competitor. "Can I be first?" She held a laser disc in the air.

Both Aeka and Ryoko gave Mihoshi the evil eye. They sighed, then leaned close to discuss the issue. Aeka spoke first.

"If we humor her, maybe she'll go away."

"It's not like she can actually win."

They nodded in agreement.

"Very well, Miss Mihoshi. You may go first."

Everyone took their seats to watch Mihoshi warm up the microphone.

"Great!" Mihoshi put the disc into the machine and began her performance. She did a very passable impression of a popular tune from last year. Aeka sat patiently listening. Ryoko also sat listening with her legs crossed. Her foot kept time with the beat of the song.

When Mihoshi finished, the onlookers politely applauded. She gratefully accepted their praise.

"Thank you! You're all so nice. Was it good?"

"Yes, Miss Mihoshi." Aeka answered. "You did very well."

Mihoshi giggled and smiled broadly. Then she noticed her audience had grown by two. Nobuyuki and Katsuhito had ascended from the basement where Tenchi's father kept his cameras and films. They were also applauding. Mihoshi waved to them.

"Hi!"

They both smiled in return.

Tired of waiting, Aeka stood to take her turn.

"Thank you, Miss Mihoshi. That was very nice. But I believe it's my turn now. That is..." she glanced at Ryoko, "if you don't mind."

"Not at all. Be my guest." Ryoko invited her.

_"This is very strange."_ Aeka thought. _"Ryoko is never this polite. What could her plan be?" _Aeka tried to set her unease aside so as to be able to turn in a good performance.

She went to the karaoke machine. Choosing a different disc, Aeka replaced Mihoshi's choice with her own. Mihoshi sat down in the place Aeka had vacated a moment ago.

The song Aeka chose characterized her own feelings on how her life had changed since the events of seven hundred years ago. She had chosen to give-up her life on Jurai for a more rustic life-style here on Earth, alongside Tenchi. Aeka sang from the heart, which made all the difference. She felt she was doing very well. When Tenchi came down from his room, Aeka did not fail to notice. She was very glad to know her singing had coaxed him down.

The song was longer than she normally sang, but it made no difference. She completed it in good order, with the grace and beauty that she had intended. The others clapped appreciatively. Their applause seemed substantially more enthusiastic than for Mihoshi. Ryoko even complimented her.

"Hey, Aeka. That was pretty good." She stood to take Aeka's place. As they passed, Ryoko made a confident boast. "Mine'll be better."

"We'll see about that." Aeka challenged her.

Ryoko swaggered to the karaoke machine and played with the controls for a moment, not bothering to switch the disc. She turned back to the audience and began singing a tragic love song. When she finished, everyone clapped his or her applause then looked to Sasami for a verdict.

"It was close. But I think Ryoko won."

"Woo-hoo!" Ryoko cheered.

"I'm not through, yet!" Aeka demanded.

"Quit being a sore loser." Ryoko told her.

"I'm not." Aeka explained. "I simply don't recall agreeing to only one round."

"Oh, so that's how it's gonna be? All right, then. How about best two-out-of-three?"

"That will be fine." Aeka accepted, rising to compete again. She snatched the microphone from Ryoko's hand as she took her rival's place once more.

The song Aeka had in mind was on a different disc. However, it would bury her opponent for sure. She quickly switched the discs and began. It became more obvious to the listeners why Aeka had chosen this song. The breathy lyrics and piano melody were well suited to her vocal style. 

_"Damn!"_ Ryoko thought. _"That's a good one."_ She dug through the mental list of songs she had prepared for this. If there was one area she knew Aeka could not compete with her, it was sex appeal. The perfect song came to mind.

On the second-floor balcony, Washu joined Tenchi for a word or two.

"Enjoying the show?"

"Ah, I'm just watching." Tenchi answered as if he had been implicated in something criminal.

"You do know why they're having this little competition, don't you?"

"Competition?"

"That's right. They're competing to see who gets to take you out on Christmas Eve."

Tenchi hung his head.

"Ugh. Did I miss something? I don't recall saying I would go out with anybody that evening."

"You will go out with the winner, won't you?" Washu asked nicely. However, Tenchi seemed reluctant to agree.

"I don't think that's such a good idea."

Tenchi suddenly found himself wrapped in a very long length of rope. Washu repeated the question, this time with more force.

"Won't you?"

"I guess I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

Washu smiled at Tenchi's wise decision.

The song Aeka was singing slowed. The lyrics stopped, allowing the music to continue for a few moments as an instrumental. The instrumental ended and Aeka tossed the microphone to Ryoko.

"Beat that, devil-woman."

"Not a problem, Princess." Ryoko answered. "I got somethin' for ya."

Ryoko made her way to the karaoke machine and switched the current disc for another. She turned back to the others with a huge grin pasted to her face. Her second song started with a strong, slow, bass-line that gave everyone a feeling of oppressiveness. Throughout its entire length, the song dripped of passionate heat. The household listened with a combination of shock, awe, and appreciation. The end came abruptly, like all things passionate.

Ryoko twirled the microphone around by its cord a few times, then let it fall to the floor. She walked back to her seat, provocatively swaying her hips.

"Sasami," Ryoko asked as she sat down, "who won that round?"

Sasami thought for a moment. Apparently unable to come to a decision on her own, she quietly conversed with Mihoshi so no one else could hear. They giggled, then broke apart.

"That one was even closer. But..." Sasami paused for dramatic effect, "Aeka wins!"

"What?!" Ryoko exclaimed.

"Hmph. That'll teach you." Aeka gloated.

"It's not over yet."

"It may as well be." Aeka warned her. "Little Washu," Aeka made sure to use the diminutive form Washu preferred when she was addressed, "could I have a word with you?" She looked around. "Washu? There you are." Aeka went up the stairs to discuss something with the small scientist.

"Hey!" Ryoko objected. "No outside help!"

"I don't need assistance to beat the likes of you. Only an instrument."

"No props, either."

It took Aeka a moment to understand what Ryoko was referring to.

"Not that kind of prop, you pervert." Aeka put her arm around Washu's shoulder as she explained what she wanted. Washu chuckled.

"Too easy." She conjured her keyboard and began tapping away. A moment a guitar faded into reality just in front of them. The keyboard disappeared. Washu grasped the neck of the guitar and presented it to Aeka.

"One acoustic guitar, as requested."

"Thank you, Ms. Washu."

Washu immediately yanked back the instrument. Aeka looked confused for a moment until she realized her error.

"Thank you, Little Washu."

Washu's smile returned and she held the guitar out again. Aeka gratefully accepted it. She gracefully took the steps one at a time until she reached the bottom. Continuing to the karaoke machine, Aeka ignored the curious stares she was getting. Instead of switching discs or songs, she simply shut the machine off. Aeka pulled the guitar sling over her head and faced the curious onlookers.

"I have decided to depart from the more traditional form of karaoke and sing this song without the benefit of accompaniment."

"That's bull crap!" Ryoko objected again. "This is a karaoke competition!"

"I don't recall agreeing to that either. This is to determine who has the better singing voice."

Ryoko actually growled. She stared lasers at Aeka.

"Fine. Have it your way. Just remember, you asked for it."

It was not that Aeka was stretching the rules that was getting under Ryoko's collar. It was that Aeka was using the same trick Ryoko had been planning. Now, it would look like she was just copying Aeka.

****

The confident princess pulled the pick from its place between the strings and strummed the guitar experimentally. She played a couple of chords to work out the kinks.

"As First Princess, my family encouraged me to learn the fine arts at an early age. I will now demonstrate what I have learned."

"This ought to be short." Ryoko heckled her. Aeka chose to ignore the comment.

The only people present who recognized the song were Aeka's brother and sister. It was an ancient Juraian love song her musical instructor had taught her. Aeka had hoped to one day perform the song for Yosho. Many things had changed since then, including her own feelings.

When Aeka concluded her final performance, the others applauded enthusiastically. She had only a moment to accept the praise offered to her before Ryoko elbowed her out of the way, making her drop the guitar.

"That's nothing! Watch this." Ryoko closed her eyes and began concentrating. Before the Masakis' very eyes, she multiplied herself. Now there were four Ryokos instead of one.

Sasami and Mihoshi thought it was a great trick and clapped. Aeka was starting to look somewhat queasy. In the back of the room, Nobuyuki was whispering to his father-in-law.

"Hey, Dad. Now that there's plenty of Ryokos to go around, do you think...whoa!" The two widowers parted just in time to avoid a microphone thrown in their direction. Tenchi's father pulled-down his right eyelid.

"Ha! You missed!"

The guitar did not miss. It took Nobuyuki square in the face, knocking him colder than a frozen mackerel. Belatedly, Katsuhito responded to his son-in-law's question.

"No, I don't think she would."

The Ryokos huddled together as a group. The others watched, wondering what she/they were planning. When the duplicates began making decisions based on the outcome of "rock-paper-scissors", the observers began to worry more about Ryoko's sanity rather than any plan.

Their decisions completed, the four of them split apart. They quickly assumed positions slightly apart from each other around the open area of the floor.

To everyone's amazement, modern musical instruments began appearing around the performers. All of the accoutrements of a rock band were being produced out of thin air, just as Washu had created an acoustic guitar for Aeka. The astounded princess objected strenuously to the overpower they were about to experience.

"This is absurd! How can one person compete against an entire band?"

"Sucks to be you." The duplicates blithely responded in unison.

"I need to sit." Aeka complained as she returned to her place. She laid her head back on the back cushion of the couch with an arm over her eyes.

"What did I do to deserve such treatment?" Aeka rhetorically asked of the world in general.

Washu called down from the second floor balcony.

"Aeka, are you sure you don't need anymore help?"

"No, Miss Washu." Aeka answered. This time she made sure to call Washu "Miss" instead of "Little". "You've done quite enough already, thank you."

While Aeka lay back, recovering her composure, the Ryokos set-up their instruments. Two guitars, a bass, (all electric), and a drum set composed the entire complement. As the viewers sat, the band was arranged with the guitars in the center-front (lead) and left positions, the bass on the right, and drum set in the rear. The lead Ryoko offered some background on her song, as well.

"I heard this little tune --"

"WE!" The other three interjected.

"Sorry, girls. We..." She paused for emphasis. Ryoko's duplicates smiled. "Heard this little tune in town the other day. It's from someplace called America."

Aeka stopped Ryoko before she could begin.

"Since when do you speak English?"

"What's English?" Ryoko asked, confused. The duplicated looked at one another, shaking their heads. Everyone else looked to Washu for an explanation.

RYOKO'S STRANGE BEHAVIOUR, LESSON 14: The Language Barrier.

When I designed Ryoko, it made more sense to create a being that would be able to communicate with all the intelligent races in the universe without external assistance. So I engineered in a universal translator (Ever see Star Trek?) that allows Ryoko to communicate vocally in any spoken language she hears."

"It all sounds the same to me." Ryoko interrupted.

"Hush-up! No talking in class." Washu continued.

"I'll tell you, getting such a complex bio-genetic invention to work was no easy task. But... Ta-da! There she is! Absolutely perfect."

Aeka still had not lifted her head from its place on the back of the couch.

"Perfectly awful." She almost inaudibly muttered.

Ryoko, all four of her, got tired of listening to everyone else.

"Yeah, okay, whatever. Just listen."

Surprisingly, Ryoko's chosen song was not a hard driving rock song. It was a ballad. Both the theme and title became obvious with the first line: "Love hurts".

When Ryoko held Tenchi's gaze throughout the entire second verse, it also became obvious that the lyrics held some significance for her. By the time she finished, Sasami and Mihoshi were nearly in tears. (It really is a sad song, folks). Everyone else merely sat or stood in mute silence. Mihoshi was the first to speak.

"Oh, Ryoko. I'm so... so... moved! Wahhhh!" She started blubbering all over the place.

"Sasami, " The lead Ryoko asked once more, "who won?"

The little girl did not look like she was enjoying herself anymore.

"I... don't want to be judge anymore."

"Come on, Sasami. Tell us who won."

Aeka finally lifted her head. She stared daggers at Ryoko.

"Stop it." Her face was red. Whether from anger, embarrassment, or some other emotion could not be discerned.

"We're not ignorant. Everyone present knows perfectly well you've won. There's no need to rub it in our faces."

Everyone listened in shock to Aeka's concession.

"Now, if you will excuse me, I have some... cleaning to do." Aeka left the room and went straight to her room without so much as glancing at anybody.

The Ryokos smiled gleefully, then spoke in unison.

"Well, now that that's settled..." They set down their instruments, then regrouped and recombined in the center of the floor. Ryoko leapt over Sasami and Ryo-o-ki up to the second floor balcony as they tried to console the over-emotional Mihoshi.

"So. Tenchi." Ryoko directed her feline-like gaze onto Tenchi, who squirmed uncomfortably in his bonds.

"Where should we go for our date?"

For the week following Ryoko and Aeka's contest, all of the energy Aeka usually possessed seemed to transfer to Ryoko. Aeka went about her business and chores with a quiet and calm attitude, rarely showing any enthusiasm. On the other hand, Ryoko was, at times, literally bouncing off the walls. When Tenchi admitted to her that he had no idea where to go for their date, she promised to take care of everything, which only served to make Tenchi more nervous.

To make matters worse, Tenchi knew Ryoko was gathering information from the others. Whenever he asked them about it, they would just smile and give some form of very plain and uninformative answer.

Once, he caught Ryoko coming out of Washu's lab with what looked like a credit card. When she realized she had been spotted, she stuffed the card down her dress where she knew he would not look.

"Hey, Ryoko." Tenchi innocently inquired. "What's up?"

"Uh, nothing! Nothing at all." Ryoko clasped her hands behind her back. "Just talking to my mom."

"Your 'mom'? Are you all right?"

"Everything's fine. Why?"

"You've been acting stranger than usual."

Ryoko continued innocently smiling.

"Nope. Everything's fine."

"Well, okay. If you say so." Tenchi reluctantly went about his business. He hesitated after taking a couple steps and took another look over his shoulder. Ryoko stood in the same place, still looking like the poster child for innocence.

Eventually, the time came for all of Tenchi's questions to be answered. On Christmas Eve, Ryoko and Washu commandeered the second floor restroom for well over an hour. A sign on the door indicated everyone, especially Tenchi, should keep out.

Downstairs, Nobuyuki had broken out his best video camera for the events to follow. Aeka did make an appearance earlier to help set-up the home party. Shortly thereafter she disappeared again. Everyone assumed she did not wish to see Tenchi and Ryoko leaving together.

Tenchi was the first to show himself. The only bit of information Ryoko had given him about this evening was that they would be going someplace fancy and that he should dress appropriately. When Tenchi asked how fancy, Ryoko had paused for a moment before answering.

"You don't have to wear a tie. But, I bet you'll look good if you do."

Tenchi hated ties. Therefore, he showed up casual, coat with no tie. The girls were all agiggle at how handsome he looked, even without a tie. Nobuyuki aimed the camera at his son as Tenchi descended the front stairs.

"Come on, Dad. What are you taking pictures for?"

"It's not every day a father gets to see his son off on Christmas Eve. Your mother would be so proud."

"I don't know about that."

They ended up waiting for another half-hour for Ryoko to show herself. Apparently, she was taking great pains to see that everything was right. Washu joined them first.

"Good evening, Ladies and Gents!"

Sasami jumped right on her case.

"Is Ryoko ready?"

Washu smiled broadly. Gesturing towards the stairs, she called to her daughter.

"Ryoko, dear. You can come down now."

Ryoko walked slowly and deliberately into the light where she could be seen. Throughout the room, jaws struck the floor. Mihoshi was the only one to speak.

"Oh, my."

In addition to the black dress Ryoko had wanted so much to wear for Tenchi, she had a red ribbon holding her hair in a ponytail. On her feet were matching two-centimeter heels. From Ryoko's earlobes dangled her traditional red-globe earrings. The most striking difference was make-up. She wore only red lipstick and a little mascara, but it made a huge difference. Tenchi felt seriously under-dressed.

Ryoko watched Tenchi's expressions as she descended from the second floor. Amazement, admiration, embarrassment, and self-consciousness all passed across his face before she reached him. The joy Ryoko felt showed in her smile as Tenchi openly admired her appearance.

"Do I look beautiful?" Ryoko asked Tenchi.

"You look... um... Yes." Tenchi stumbled over his answer.

Sasami started to giggle at his discomfiture. She called to Ryoko.

"I think he likes it."

Ryoko was all smiles.

"I think he does, too. But, Tenchi," she examined his clothes, "you didn't wear a tie."

Tenchi at least had the good sense to look sheepish. Ties always made him fell like he was choking. The onlookers chuckled.

"Lord Tenchi!"

Everyone looked towards where the call had come from. Aeka was quickly descending the stairs. She came to a stop before Tenchi and Ryoko.

"Lord Tenchi, Ryoko is correct. You should wear a tie."

Tenchi looked at Aeka as if she were crazy. So did Ryoko. Aeka revealed the tie she held in her hands. She put it over Tenchi's head then tucked it under his collar. Once satisfied with its placement, she pulled it tight. Perhaps a little too tight.

Ryoko watched Aeka, first with suspicion, then amazement. Aeka was actually making Tenchi look better for this date. Ryoko could not decide whether to be jealous or what. Aeka stood back and admired her handiwork.

"Much better."

"Um... Thank you." Tenchi politely told her.

Aeka faced Ryoko.

"Miss Ryoko, if you embarrass Lord Tenchi tonight, I will personally incarcerate you for another seven hundred years. Am I perfectly clear?"

Ryoko felt somewhat disconcerted by the way Aeka was looking her right in the eyes. Most people tended to avoid her eyes. Aeka's gaze told Ryoko everything she needed to know about the consequences should she cause trouble tonight.

"All right. Chill."

Aeka seemed to relax a little bit. She took a deep breath and bowed.

"Have a good evening." With that, Aeka went straight for the sake and poured herself a huge glass.

"Well, okay!" Ryoko tried to lighten the mood. "What do you say we get going?"

Tenchi gave a last look at Aeka's back before consenting.

"All right. Where to?"

"Tokyo."

"Tokyo? How are we supposed to get there?"

"Don't worry, Tenchi. I took care of everything. Besides, teleporting doesn't cost anything."

Tenchi's eyes got big.

"Teleporting?"

Ryoko took a hold of his arm.

"That's right."

"Oh --" They disappeared before Tenchi could finish.

Aeka drank her second serving of sake at a medium pace.

Tenchi felt a chill crawl up his back. He opened his eyes and found himself on top of the highest observation deck on the Tokyo Tower. The stiff winter wind blew in his face, chilling him to the bone. He instantly started to shiver.

"Nice view, isn't it?" Ryoko clutched Tenchi's arm while the wind whipped her hair back, making it wave and rustle like a tattered flag.

"It's freezing up here!" Tenchi complained. "Can't we go inside or something?"

Ryoko looked at Tenchi.

"Don't you like the view?"

"It's kind of hard to appreciate the view when I'm shaking like a ten-point earthquake. Can we please go inside?"

When Tenchi suddenly felt the firmness of the roof of the deck disappear from under his feet, he clutched at Ryoko's arm to keep from falling. Looking down, he saw that they were literally sinking through the roof. He closed his eyes to shut out the frightening experience. A moment later, Tenchi felt the air get warmer and his feet met the solid floor of the observation deck. When cracked his eyes again and found they were indeed within the confines of the observation deck, he immediately released his grip on Ryoko's arm.

"If I'd known we would be out in the cold I would've brought a coat."

Thinking quickly, Ryoko came up with a way to alleviate Tenchi's chill.

"I'm so sorry, Tenchi." She smiled seductively, pressing herself against his chest. "Let me warm you."

Tenchi leaned back, trying to escape Ryoko's grasp. Instead, he got a very good look down the front of her dress. His face turned red and blood began to trickle out of his nose. Ryoko's eyes got wide when she saw what was happening.

"Tenchi?"

Tenchi clamped a hand to his face and spoke in a nasally voice.

"Restroom..." He quickly looked around. Spotting the sign for the restroom, he pulled himself from her amorous grip and ran.

Ryoko stood silently, looking out the plate-glass windows over Tokyo. It was always like this. She would present herself to Tenchi and he would somehow manage to escape. Sometimes he slipped away, unnoticed. Sometimes he ran. She preferred it when he ran, because then she could chase after him. But occasionally, she did not want to chase him. Tonight was one of those times.

_"Come to think of it, why does Tenchi always run away from me?"_ She began mentally counting her attributes.

_"I'm strong. I'm beautiful. I'm fun to be around. Maybe it's some kind of game Earth guys play. Kind of like playing 'hard to get'."_ Ryoko thought about that for a minute.

_"Naw. That doesn't make any sense. That's a game for girls. Besides, he would've let me get somewhere by now. So why does he always run away from me?"_ She refused to consider the most obvious possibility; that Tenchi simply was not attracted to her.

"Arg! I just don't get it!"

"Don't get what?" Tenchi asked from behind her.

Ryoko spun around in surprise. No one ever snuck up on her. It was impossible. It was ridiculous. It was... Tenchi.

"Why do you... um, you know... run away?" She asked, somewhat embarrassed she had been snuck up on.

Tenchi sighed.

"I tell you what. I'll answer your question if you'll answer one of mine."

"Fair enough." She agreed.

"Why are you always forcing me to do things I don't want to do?"

"I don't force you to do anything."

Tenchi rolled his eyes.

"Yes, you do. And when I try to get away you start chasing me! I never have a choice about anything with you."

"I only chase you when you run."

"Ryoko, you're always chasing me. I feel like the rabbit in a greyhound race." He sighed again. "Things would be a lot easier if you would say what you want, instead of just taking it."

"I want you." Ryoko suddenly blurted out.

Tenchi's eyes crossed.

"Um..."

"I want..." A far-off look appeared on Ryoko's face. "I want to go places. And I want to take you with me! There's a whole galaxy out there that you haven't seen, Tenchi."

She suddenly got a great idea.

"I know! Let's go on a trip! We can travel the galaxy together!"

Tenchi slowly shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Ryoko. I can't do that. I have to finish school. But, maybe when I'm done, we can all go on a vacation, together."

_"Figures."_ Ryoko thought.

"I mean just the two of us. A man and a woman, alone together."

"But, how do you think Aeka would feel about that?"

"Forget about Aeka. What do you want with a stuck-up princess, anyway?"

A word began flashing in Tenchi's mind. There was only one way to describe what Ryoko had just said. Calmly, yet firmly, Tenchi told Ryoko what he was thinking.

"Ryoko, that's a very selfish thing to say."

Ryoko was surprised at how much his words stung. She stepped back, away from Tenchi. For some reason, she did not feel like being next to him anymore tonight.

"Well, then what do you want? How is it selfish to want to share your life with someone?" She stared at Tenchi for a moment, letting her own words sink in, then she turned back to the window.

"This is stupid." She declared as she reached into her hair and removed the red ribbon. Her cyan strands fell back into their normal (relatively speaking) disconcerted array. She scrubbed her fingers rapidly over her scalp, restoring her circulation.

"Much better. I don't know how those Earth girls can keep their hair up for so long. It drives me nuts." Shaking her hair, she looked at Tenchi with displeasure. "So I guess you want to go home, huh? Maybe you'll have more fun with Aeka, sitting at home all the time."

Tenchi could see he had gone too far by pointing out Ryoko's selfishness. She was giving him a very cold and almost disgusted look that he definitely did not like. He could feel a small devil named Guilt sticking him with a pitchfork.

"Ryoko, I'm sorry. It's just that you're jumping so far ahead. Instead of the entire galaxy, let's just worry about Tokyo tonight, okay?" He held out his hand, palm up.

Ryoko looked at Tenchi's hand. For a moment, she thought she would refuse to accept his apology. But her hand somehow ended up in his without any conscious commands from her mind. Tenchi's fingers curled around hers, and the feelings of anger and disappointment she was feeling simply disappeared. They were replaced by forgiveness and acceptance, and a firm belief that, someday, they would be together.

"What would you like for dinner?" She asked.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Well, I know of a new Italian place in town. Want to try it?"

Tenchi's stomach growled its approval. Embarrassed, Tenchi scratched the back of his head with his free hand as Ryoko smiled.

When the waiter left to fetch their drinks, Tenchi leaned across the table to ask Ryoko something important.

"Ryoko, I hate to do this, but how are we paying for this?"

"Trust me." Ryoko looked right into his eyes. "It's taken care of."

Tenchi's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Hmm..."

The waiter returned with a bottle of very old wine, imported all the way from Europe.

"Your wine, my lady."

"Oh, good! Crack it open. Let's have some."

Tenchi gawked as the waiter opened the hundred-year-old bottle. Red wine flowed into long-stemmed glasses. Ryoko raised her glass to drink it down. A polite cough alerted her to a problem. She looked across the table to see Tenchi holding the one and only glass he would drink tonight up in front of him. It took her a moment to remember what the gesture meant.

"Oh! I get it. A toast, right? Okay, um..."

"To friends." Tenchi said.

Ryoko looked into her glass. The red liquid sloshed around inside as she moved it in a circular motion.

"Ryoko?" Tenchi asked, concerned with the look she had on her face.

The waiter quickly found an excuse to leave them.

"With your permission, I'll return shortly to take your orders."

They ignored him as he walked off to attend to another couple at a different table. Ryoko's eyes met Tenchi's, and she decided she could no longer accept only friendship from him. There had to be more.

Just as she was about to speak her mind, a score of armed men burst forth from the kitchen. They rushed through the restaurant, taking up specific positions within the room. They all carried some form of machine gun or assault rifle. One of them fired, spraying bullets across the ceiling.

"Okay!" One of them shouted across the room. "Now that we have everyone's attention, please stay seated. We are not particularly violent people. But if you disobey, we'll be forced to kill you. Live hostages are much more valuable than dead ones. This hotel is now under our control. All the exits are guarded, so don't bother trying to escape. Just sit tight and no one gets hurt."

Tenchi was carefully watching the speaker, when he heard something snap from across the table. He looked, and saw the top of Ryoko's wineglass fall to the table. Red wine and pieces of glass scattered across the polished stone surface. Energy discharges began arcing around her.

"Ryoko, don't!"

She disappeared. A moment later, he heard her voice speak from across the room.

"Did you say something?"

Tenchi looked back towards the terrorist who had spoken. Ryoko stood behind him, one arm across his forehead, pulling his head back and exposing his throat. The other held her energy sword against his windpipe.

Tenchi stood, and shouted across the room to her.

"Ryoko, let him go! They'll hurt someone if you get in their way!"

"Your friend has the right idea, girl. If you don't let me go, there'll be a lot of dead bodies to put in the freezer."

Ryoko knew he was right. She could easily kill him and his accomplices, but not before they could kill a lot of hostages. She growled menacingly into his ear before releasing him. The terrorist stepped away and faced her, rubbing his throat gingerly.

"Now then, why don't you be a good little girl and go sit with your boyfriend?"

"Hey, boss!" One of the others called to him. "I think we just found our reader!"

"Yeah! That ought to keep her in line. Bring that guy over here."

Ryoko growled again.

"Relax, girl. He's just going to read our list of demands to the authorities when they arrive. In the mean time, he'll be with me in the lobby. If you behave, you'll get him back unharmed. Understand?"

"Yes." She hissed.

Tenchi arrived at her side, escorted by two armed men.

"Ryoko, try to stay calm. I'll be all right."

She glared at their captors.

"If you hurt him, I'll..." Her teeth ground together.

"Go sit down." The man told her as he led Tenchi away.

"Yeah, go sit down." One of the remaining guards gave her a shove towards her table.

She snarled at him, barely able to restrain her temper.

When Tenchi returned an hour later with his guard, they found Ryoko crouching on top of a large pile of robotic parts. There were no guards or hostages anywhere. The guard pointed his rifle at Ryoko and fired on full automatic, sending a stream of lead in her direction. Tenchi dove for cover.

Ryoko's hands moved like lightning. When the weapon clicked, indicating it was empty, Ryoko opened her hands, allowing the lead projectiles to fall harmlessly to the ground.

"Jesus!" The terrorist dropped his weapon and ran. But Ryoko was not in a gracious mood. She teleported in front of him, sword in hand. The man stopped short, but he could not evade her. The sword sliced cleanly through him three times. Six parts of a robot fell to the floor in front of Tenchi. He stared at the parts in astonishment.

"A robot?"

Ryoko calmly reached down and hauled Tenchi to his feet.

"Are you all right?" She asked, inspecting him for injuries.

"Yeah. I'm fine. But, what happened in here?"

"I figured out they were robots when one of them started complaining about a bad joint or something. So I just hit them with an EMP pulse. Fried their circuits. I could have done a bigger one, but it would have scrambled the peoples' brains."

The head terrorist's voice echoed from the lobby.

"What's taking him so long? You, go see what the problem is."

"Maybe we'd better leave." Tenchi suggested.

"Hold on, tight." Ryoko advised him as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Tenchi wrapped his arms around her waist, complying with her instructions. His vision blurred for a moment, then cleared, revealing an unfamiliar room. He looked around, and determined from the layout they were in a hotel room.

"What are we doing here?"

"Nothing, yet."

Tenchi looked at Ryoko and realized what she had in mind.

"Ryoko, I think we should go home, now." He suggested, trying to free himself from her grip.

"Tenchi, I was really worried about you. All alone with those mean old terrorists." She twirled a finger against his coat. "Why don't we have a drink to calm our nerves?"

Ryoko finally let go of Tenchi. She went right to the small refrigerator and opened it. Within were the bottle of wine they had opened earlier, and two unbroken glasses.

"Ryoko, is this the same hotel those guys tried to take over?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Then, it's probably not safe to stay here."

"Don't be scared, Tenchi. I'm here. I'll protect you." She moved over to the couch and set the wine on the magazine table. "Besides, you promised you would have a drink with me."

Tenchi instantly began to regret that promise. Not only did he not care for the taste of alcohol, but he was still a minor, as well. However, there were times when Ryoko simply could not be refused. This time she had insisted they share at least one drink. He reluctantly went around the table and sat on the couch.

"Did you rent this room for the night?" He asked while she poured the drinks.

"Yup." She set the bottle down, then presented him with his drink.

"Here you go."

Tenchi sighed, then accepted the glass. He looked up to address Ryoko again and got an eyeful of slender thigh as she sat back and crossed her legs. He quickly looked at the wine bottle label. Ryoko casually slipped her free arm behind him on the back of the couch while he was not looking.

Tenchi set his glass down on the table and picked up the wine bottle.

"Wow, this stuff is really old, huh?" He carefully examined the label, even though he could not read a word of it.

Ryoko drained her glass, then held it out to Tenchi, waving it in front of his face.

"Fill me up."

Tenchi tilted the bottle over her glass, refilling it as she had requested.

"Ryoko, why did you get this room?"

"Why do you think?" She quickly drained her second glass.

"I'm not staying here tonight." Tenchi told her.

"I am."

"Huh?"

Tenchi finally took a good look at Ryoko. She was looking into her empty glass. After a moment, she noticed he was watching her. She held her glass out again, indicating she wanted more wine.

Normally, Tenchi would have said something about how fast she was drinking. But this was Ryoko. It was normal for her to drink at such a rapid pace. So he poured another glass.

"You gonna drink that?" She indicated the glass sitting on the table.

Tenchi looked at the still full glass, then sighed. He set the bottle back down and took his glass. This time, he did not propose a toast. He took a sip, to get an idea of what it tasted like.

"You can do better than that."

"It's strong." He complained.

"I like being able to taste what I drink."

"I thought you couldn't taste at all."

"I can taste." Under her breath she added, "A little."

Tenchi took another sip.

"Come on, Tenchi. Drink it."

"I am."

"Like this." She slammed hers down.

Tenchi sighed, then tried to drink his in one draught. He almost choked on it, but he managed to get it down.

"All right, Tenchi!" Pleased, Ryoko set her glass down on the table and took the bottle. She tilted it back and took a long drink.

"Ahh!" Kicking her high-heels off, she sent them flying across the room. They thumped against the room door.

"Much better! Those things have been killing me all night." She took another pull from the bottle. When she started sucking air, she realized she had finished it off faster than she had intended. She looked at the bottle in surprise.

"Ah, well." She dropped the bottle beside the couch, then laid down with her feet in Tenchi's lap. He looked at her feet for a moment, then at her face.

"Tenchi, would you rub my feet?"

"You're kidding."

"They're sore from wearing those shoes. Please?" She begged of him.

"Well..."

"I just saved all those people downstairs. Don't I deserve a reward?"

"You shouldn't help people because you're looking for a reward."

"There's nothing wrong with getting a reward, is there?"

"No."

"So you'll do it, then."

Tenchi blinked when he realized how Ryoko had twisted his words.

"I guess so." He told her with mock indignation. It was just a foot rub.

He turned sideways and let his left leg lie on the couch between him and Ryoko. Her feet rested on his calf as he gently rubbed the soles of her feet. When his thumb lightly grazed the arch of her right foot, she yanked it from his grasp.

"Hey!"

"Something wrong?" Tenchi asked in surprise.

"What did you just do?" Ryoko asked back.

"Nothing. I just... Oh, I get it. You're ticklish."

"Ticklish? I am not!"

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not!

"Then prove it." Tenchi challenged her.

Ryoko bravely thumped her foot back into his lap.

"Go ahead. But it won't work." Ryoko insisted.

"Uh-huh." Tenchi took a firm hold on her ankle with his left hand and lightly dragged his fingers across the bottom of her foot. She immediately yanked it away again.

"Cut it out!" She laughed.

"I knew it!" Tenchi laughed as well.

As repayment for all the times she had scared or chased him, he fell upon her, attacking every place he knew that a person could be tickled. Twisting and turning, Ryoko tried to fend off Tenchi's tickle torture, while laughing uproariously the entire time.

"That's for chasing me around the school! And that's for scaring me all the time! And this! And that!"

"Stop it! Stop it! Tenchi! Ahhh! Come on! Stop!" She twisted in a particularly sharp manner, sending them both crashing to the floor. Ryoko found herself almost on top of him. There was a short moment where they were quiet, then they started laughing again.

"Ha ha! Are you okay?" Tenchi asked.

"Yeah." Ryoko chuckled as she looked down at Tenchi's smiling face.

Their eyes stayed lock for several long moments. Ryoko felt a tightness growing in her chest. She hated it when that happened. She usually ended up doing something embarrassing when she started feeling like this. Her head sagged a bit, then she tried to kiss Tenchi. His hands went to her shoulders and held her back.

"Don't."

She sagged against his chest in defeat.

"Why not?"

Tenchi sighed without answering her question.

Ryoko laid against his chest for a while, picking at the knot in his tie. She picked and pulled for a while longer until she remembered Aeka had given him this tie.

_"Aeka."_ Ryoko began wondering if his reluctance really was due to some interest in the Jurai Princess.

"Tenchi..." She asked.

There was no answer. She looked up and discovered Tenchi with his head back, sound asleep. The sight of him so calm took the edges off of her annoyance. But, she still felt miffed that he had fallen asleep with her on top of him. Unsure of what to do, she sat up. At the least, she could not leave him lying on the ground. A large grin spread across Ryoko's face as a very interesting idea came to mind.

Since she had retrieved her gems from Tenchi, she had regained the full use of her powers. In addition to levitating herself, she could now levitate other objects. Compared to some of the things she had levitated in the past, Tenchi would be a piece of cake.

Ryoko stood, then began concentrating on Tenchi's sleeping form. He slowly rose into the air, unhindered by gravity's pull. Under her expert control, he floated across the floor until he was over the bed. Letting her control lax a bit allowed Tenchi to slowly sink until he was lying comfortably on the bed. Ryoko relaxed.

_"Damn, I'm good."_ She congratulated herself.

Walking over to the large mirror on the opposite wall from the bed, she began straightening up from the earlier activities.

Tenchi awoke with a start. He opened his eyes and saw an unfamiliar ceiling. A brief moment of thought allowed him to recall where he was. Another moment brought the realization that he was lying on a bed.

_"How did I get here?"_

He risked a look around and saw Ryoko preening herself before the mirror. For a few moments, he allowed himself the long look he had not yet taken.

Ryoko did not fail to notice when Tenchi suddenly awoke. She was careful not to let on that she was aware he was looking at her. Her heart glowed, knowing he was finally taking a good long look at her. She decided that, as long as he was looking, she would give him a bit of a show.

Ryoko made sure not to look at Tenchi's reflection as she turned sideways. She kept her eyes on herself, using only her peripheral vision to keep track of Tenchi as she pretended to inspect her bust. Clucking her tongue in mock disgust, Ryoko reached behind her back and pulled the string holding her dress tight about her chest. It came loose, allowing Tenchi to see more of her sides than before.

This time, Ryoko made a satisfied sound before turning one hundred eighty degrees, still making sure to keep her back to Tenchi. Her half-turn allowed the front of her dress to ride inwards, revealing the curves of her breasts when viewed from the sides. She reached up into her hair and brushed her long strands back, holding it in a ponytail. A golden hair-scrunchie, the same color as her eyes, appeared in her free hand. Taking her time wrapping the item around her hair, Ryoko let Tenchi get a good look at her bare sides. She took a quick glance at Tenchi's reflection, verifying he was still watching.

_"That's right, lover. Keep watching."_ She thought as she slid her leg closest to the bed forward enough to completely reveal her thigh.

Her hands slowly drifted down to the black dress suspended from her neck. She hooked her thumbs underneath and pulled forward as her hands moved. The material pulled away from her chest along with her thumbs, showing almost everything there was to show. She kept the cloth taught over her chest as she moved her hands further down. The slack she created allowed her dress to slip dangerously low, exposing the upper portions of her panties to view.

Masking another quick peek at Tenchi by turning once more, she found he had let his head fall back to the pillow. Although she was a little disappointed he was no longer watching, Ryoko was pleased he had looked at all. She had enjoyed giving him the show. She had enjoyed it a great deal. So much so that she did not really want to stop. Her mind wandered back to some of the things she had been thinking of in the restaurant, downstairs.

_"To hell with it."_ She decided. _"Nothing risked, nothing gained."_

Quietly, so as not to alert Tenchi to her intentions, Ryoko walked to his side. She hungrily stared at him for several seconds before bending over and blowing in his left ear.

"AAAAH!!"

Tenchi suddenly leapt completely across the bed, ending up on the floor on the other side. He rubbed at his ear, trying to rid himself of the odd sensation.

"Jeez, Ryoko! What did you do that for?"

The impassioned young woman got on her hands and knees and began crawling across the bed towards him.

"You can't fool me, Tenchi." She watched as he began to circle away. "You were watching me in front of the mirror. You naughty boy."

"It's not my fault! I just looked up and there you were!"

Ryoko slowly followed on the bed as he circled.

"Did you like my little show? I know I did."

Tenchi suddenly went for the door. Just before he could start working on the locks, Ryoko appeared against the door. He could not stop in time to avoid her vise-like arms. She caught him in her clutches and pressed her body firmly against his.

"Tenchi..." She growled in his ear. "I want you."

"No kidding!" He exclaimed, trying fruitlessly to free himself.

Ryoko held tight to Tenchi. Her fingers pressed into his back as she breathed in his scent. In the past, she had presented herself to Tenchi in a similar fashion because she wanted to please him and make him feel good. The only thing she had that she could give him was her body. So that was what she offered. Lately, she had been wanting to do more than just please Tenchi. Being near him strengthened her feelings until they threatened to over-power her, as they were doing now. With every breath of his masculine scent, her feelings became stronger. Her right arm went down to his waist, where she pulled his hips against hers. Tenchi struggled harder.

"Come on, Ryoko! This isn't funny." He insisted.

"I'm not trying to be funny." She lustfully breathed against his ear.

After ingesting another chestful of Tenchi's heady aroma, Ryoko lifted her right leg and began rubbing the inside of her thigh against his leg, giving a clear understanding of what she wanted.

"Do you want me?" She unnecessarily asked.

"No!"

Through her muddled haze of passion, Ryoko began to think she might have taken this too far. But she was loath to let go of the powerful feelings Tenchi's presence evoked within her. She tried one more time to gain his interest.

"Tenchi..." She pulled on his hips again, showing Tenchi how much she wanted him.

Her effort had the exact opposite effect. Tenchi set his hands firmly against her shoulders and pushed with all his might. Ryoko released her hold, letting him escape. Tenchi fell over backwards in his rush to get away from her. He rolled with the motion, coming up on his feet, ready to run. Where he could run to, he did not know.

"What is wrong with you?" Tenchi shouted. "You scared the crap out of me!"

Ryoko's chest heaved as she tried to regain her self-control. She still wanted him. But without having him right next to her, the desire she felt was weak enough to resist.

"I want you to take me home." Tenchi suddenly demanded.

"Tenchi," Ryoko began, but he cut her off.

"No! No more. You promised to take me home when I asked. Now I'm asking. Or was that a lie?"

"No." Ryoko quickly answered. She was rapidly regaining control, and could plainly see that she had pushed way too far. Not only was Tenchi angry with her, but if Aeka found out, she would catch hell from her, too.

"I... I didn't mean -"

"I don't want to hear it." He interrupted her again. "This was a stupid idea. I swear I'm never going out with you again."

Ryoko's heart skipped a beat. Tenchi seemed really and truly angry this time. She moved immediately to comply with his wish to return home. When she touched his shoulder to teleport him home, he jumped away.

"Don't touch me!" He yelled.

"I have to!" Ryoko instantly regretted raising her voice. She explained in a more controlled tone.

"I have to touch you to teleport you back."

Tenchi glared at her for several seconds.

"I'm not lying." She insisted.

"All right."

As Ryoko initiated the contact required to teleport another person along with her, she could not help noticing that Tenchi seemed to yell at her a lot more these days. In the midst of the transition from one point to another, she decided she did not like being yelled at. Not one bit.

The party at the Masaki home was in full swing when additional voices were heard coming from the second floor. The conversations in the main room gradually quieted as they listened to two people arguing above them. Tenchi and Ryoko had been gone for less than two hours. But now it seemed they had returned under less than ideal conditions.

Secretly, Aeka was not at all surprised the date had not worked out. Perhaps now that Ryoko was faced with the bald truth of how little she and Tenchi had in common, she would cease her ridiculous advances. Of course, there was still the issue of incarceration Aeka had warned Ryoko about. As the voices rose, they became more distinct. Those in attendance could begin to make out what was being said.

"I never have a choice! It's always what you want!"

"I just wanted to spend some time with you! What's wrong with that?"

"You didn't ask! You had Washu tie me up and force me!"

"I had nothing to do with Washu tying you up. She did that on her own."

"Even worse, you took me into a war zone! I thought I was going to die!"

"That's not my fault! How was I supposed to know terrorists would pick tonight to take over that hotel?"

"Oh! And speaking of hotels, what made you think I would actually spend the night with you in a hotel?"

"Well, why not? You said I'm beautiful!"

"Why not? I'll tell you why. Because you tried to force me, that's why."

The last statement set Aeka's blood to boiling. She angrily began to make her way upstairs.

"I did not!" Ryoko indignantly answered. "I would never do that to you."

"Well, you sure had me fooled!"

"I'm sorry! I couldn't help it. I just..." She could not think of anything to explain her behavior. So she went to the only area she felt certain about.

"Don't you love me?"

Aeka reached Ryoko's room where she and Tenchi were arguing just in time to witness Tenchi let loose with a very nasty verbal jab.

"Who could love a monster like you?"

Even Aeka thought Tenchi's comment was uncalled for.

"Now, just a moment." 

Before she could say any more, Ryoko's hand came up and around like lightning. The sound of Tenchi getting slapped rang through the house. Tenchi stood silently for a moment. His next words were just as shocking.

"Get out."

Ryoko's eyes went wide with fear.

"Tenchi, I'm sorry!"

"Get out of my house!"

Ryoko started crying. Aeka forced herself to recover from the series of shocks she had just received.

"That is quite enough!"

Tenchi did not even look in her direction as he told Aeka the same.

"If you don't like it, you can leave, too."

"What?" Aeka was shocked yet again. She had not even done anything. It made no sense for Tenchi to throw them out without cause. He would never be so cruel to either of them. She felt his behavior was most atypical.

Silently, Aeka called her guardians. Azaka and Kamedake appeared beside her almost instantly. She inquired of them as to Tenchi's present behavior.

"Azaka, Kamedake, what do you think of Lord Tenchi's actions since he and Ryoko have returned?"

Azaka was the first to answer.

"Lord Tenchi is acting completely contrary to his normal patterns. I would have to conclude that he is either insane or has been influenced by a form of mind control. What do you think, Kamedake?"

"I have analyzed this evenings voice data and compared it to earlier samples. The person who left earlier was indeed Lord Tenchi. This person is not."

The fake Tenchi charged Aeka. She did not bother to erect a shield. Instead she waited for the guardians to do so, leaving her free to attack. The pseudo-Tenchi bounced off the guardians' shield and slammed into the far wall. A fraction of a second later, Ryoko pinned him to the wall with a hand clasped tightly around his throat.

"You've got three seconds to tell me where my Tenchi is or I'll rip your head off."

"Ryoko, wait!" Aeka tried to calm the enraged girl.

"One..."

The fake spat in Ryoko's face.

"Three."

Aeka quickly looked away, expecting a spray of blood and ichor. Instead there was a crunch and the sound of arcing electricity.

"What the hell?"

Aeka looked back to see what odd occurrence had just taken place. Pieces of metal endo-skeleton and wires hung from Ryoko's hand. The weight of the robot's limp body tore itself from the head within her iron grasp. The two dismembered parts fell to the floor.

"A robot?"

"Looks like it." Washu's voice spoke from just behind Aeka's elbow. She walked forward to join Ryoko in staring at the ruined automaton.

"How do you feel?" Washu quietly asked.

"Find Tenchi." Ryoko demanded. The tone of her voice left no room for deviation.

"No problem. I'll just plug this guy's memory banks into my computer and play back his memories. If he's seen Tenchi before, we'll find out about it."

Washu looked up to ask Ryoko another question, but the girl was already gone. Instead, she saw the rest of the family looking into Ryoko's damaged room. Mihoshi expressed everyone's disappointment very well.

"Does this mean the party's over?"

The girls who normally stayed at the Masaki home in Okayama where now assembled a block away from the same hotel Ryoko had chosen to take Tenchi for an evening of romance. It was a brand-new building with a four-star restaurant and nightclub. Soon it would become a battlefield. Washu issued instructions to the other girls.

"This is a simple search and rescue mission. You three," she pointed at Ryoko, Aeka, and Mihoshi, "go into the hotel, find Tenchi, and bring him out. Local authorities have already evacuated the place due to the earlier terrorist attack, so there should be no one else inside."

"The robot's memories indicated there were twelve of these robot terrorists total. Ryoko took out five earlier. That leaves seven. They are not the priority. Tenchi is. Leave revenge taking for later!"

"One more thing. You all saw the playback. Tenchi may be in need of medical attention."

Several pairs of eyes glanced in Ryoko's direction. When she had seen the memory-playback of the terrorist robots' treatment of Tenchi, she had flown into a murderous rage. The energy she had released had left every piece of equipment in Washu's lab a melted lump.

"When you find him, bring him right back here. Sasami and I will patch him up."

The youngest girl among them looked very worried. Considering the pressure she was under, Sasami was holding herself together with exemplary skill. Aeka had at first objected to Washu's desire to have Sasami accompany them. But Washu had insisted that Sasami would be in no danger if she stayed with her. She would also be helpful in treating Tenchi if there was a need.

"Well, what are you all standing around here for? Get going!"

Ryoko disappeared without further delay. Aeka's Jurai powers lifted her through the air and in the front doors of the hotel. Mihoshi ran down the street, shouting.

"Please wait! Don't leave me behind!"

Ryoko flew through the hotel rooms with ease. Her powers of flight and phasing allowed her to pass through the walls separating the rooms rapidly and without pause. Every one of them was empty. Her anger and frustration continued to build as she failed to find Tenchi.

Aeka searched the larger rooms in the first few floors. She easily broke open the ballroom doors as she searched fruitlessly for Tenchi. Even the hotel vault door could not stand up to her righteous fury.

Mihoshi entered the hotel through the same door Aeka had a minute before. Most of the furniture had been overturned and the marble floor was shattered. Sure signs of Aeka's passage. She took a quick look around, noting some of the other opulent furnishings, including the immense overhead chandelier.

An explosion on the next floor above shook the room, sending dust and plaster raining down on the detective. The chandelier began swaying back and forth, speeding her decision to go check the basement.

Mihoshi ran aimlessly through the long grey corridors underneath the hotel, trusting to her judgement and woman's intuition to lead her in the right direction. Before long, she found herself in the hotel laundry facilities. Many types of washing machines lined the walls in several rooms. She made sure to check each machine. The terrorists might have put Tenchi in one of them. As Mihoshi was exiting the first of these rooms, she heard a voice from further down the hall.

"Right. Understood."

Mihoshi stuck her head out the door and looked carefully in the direction the voice had come from. Shadows moved back and forth across from a door halfway down the hall. She made a last minute check of her blaster, then began creeping down the hall.

Despite appearances, Mihoshi really was a First-Class Detective. She was trained by the Galaxy Police in several forms of combat and marksmanship, as well as negotiation techniques. While she might not be good at complicated tasks like driving an automobile or spaceship, she rarely missed capturing a criminal. Mihoshi was determined that this would be the same. That the victim was a close personal friend made it all the more important she succeed.

Affixing her most stern Galaxy Police expression, Mihoshi leapt in front of the door, brandishing her blaster.

"Galaxy Police! Nobody move!"

Several plain-looking men in identical blue jeans and leather coats turned to the door, revealing the automatic machine-guns in their hands. In the back of the room, Tenchi was strapped to a chair. His head hung down against his chest. One of the terrorists issued instructions to the others regarding this new development.

"Kill her."

Mihoshi closed her eyes and started firing. The issue blaster she used was completely recoilless and very easy to use. Never the less, she hated to use it on people. It always made her feel like she was the criminal. She pulled the trigger six times. When there was no return fire for several seconds, Mihoshi bravely opened her eyes again. Six broken robots were lying on the floor. Wisps of smoke rose from their damaged bodies.

"Wow. How'd I do that?"

When Mihoshi saw that they were robots instead of humans, she felt much relieved.

"Oh, that's right. Washu said they were robots! I totally forgot!" Mihoshi whipped out her notepad and started taking notes for her report.

"Six terrorists, six rounds, and one rescued Jurai prince!" Something began to resurface in the sea of Mihoshi's memory.

"Wasn't there something I was supposed to do?"

A burst of wind whipped at her back. Mihoshi whirled around, her blaster held at the ready. When someone appeared in front of her, she fired. The shot sailed wide of Aeka by six centimeters, striking the doorway instead. Aeka shrank back from the impact area, a look of shock and dismay on her face. Mihoshi instantly apologized for her mistake.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Aeka! I thought you were a terrorist!"

Aeka quickly recovered her composure.

"A terrorist?! How could you possibly make such a stupid mistake?" She noticed Tenchi slumped in the chair at the back of the room.

"Tenchi!" Aeka rushed past Mihoshi, causing the blonde to trip over one of the bodies.

"Waahh!" She went down in a heap.

Aeka immediately ripped the bonds from Tenchi, freeing him to slump into her arms. Though Aeka looked like a slip of a girl, her powers gave her immense strength. She easily lifted Tenchi from the chair.

"Come, Mihoshi. We must return to Washu immediately."

Mihoshi climbed unsteadily to her feet.

"Uhh... okay."

Up above, Ryoko was getting frantic. She had searched almost the entire hotel with no success. Not even one of the terrorists was around. She could use a target to take her anger out on. Her frustration was somewhat abated when a mental message from Washu indicated that Tenchi had been found. She teleported directly back to her starting point without delay.

Everyone else had already returned. Sasami was placing a warm towel over Tenchi's forehead as Washu tended to the bruises he had received while held by the terrorists. A warm yellow glow surrounded her hands while she waved them over Tenchi. The black and blue blotches quickly disappeared.

"Is he all right?" Ryoko asked.

"He'll be fine." Washu answered. "It's just some bruises."

Ryoko sighed in relief. That was one less thing to worry about. But she still had one more task on the agenda for tonight.

"What about the robots?"

Aeka answered that question.

"Mihoshi got them."

"Mihoshi?" Ryoko was beside herself.

"I did it! I found Tenchi!" Mihoshi claimed.

"How about that? Huh. Well, how many did you get?"

"Um, I got six of them. I guess that means there's still one left."

Ryoko continued to gaze upon Tenchi's form. He was starting to show signs of awakening.

"Take Tenchi home. There's still something I have to do."

No one said anything until after Ryoko disappeared again. It was Sasami who broke the silence.

"I'm worried about Ryoko. Will she be okay?"

All looked to Washu for that answer.

"Ryoko's been a little stressed-out lately. Let her work some of it off, then she'll be fine."

Ryoko rematerialized in the main entrance. She had scoped the place out a few days ago in anticipation of her arrival and remembered several places she could teleport to. This area showed signs of having been searched. Aeka's passage through was obvious. Ryoko continued downward.

She eventually found where Tenchi had been held. Six robotic bodies lay on the floor. She was just about to drop a very big energy blast in the room when a wireless communication device started speaking.

"Unit two, respond."

Ryoko quickly searched the bodies and found the radio device. She hammered the transmit button and delivered her own response.

"I'm coming for you, you bastard." Ryoko crushed the device without waiting for any further transmissions.

Continuing her methodical search, Ryoko eventually ended up at the bottom-most level of the parking garage. Next to the service delivery area, a food-service van was parked with its doors open. Already unloaded, a large metallic container sat on the ground. On the container's top sat the last terrorist. As Ryoko approached, she conjured her energy sword.

The terrorist held a device up in one hand.

"Stop right there."

Ryoko ignored him.

"I'm holding the detonator for a Gravitic Mine. Surely you know what that is."

At that warning, Ryoko halted. She did indeed know what a Gravitic Mine was. She relayed this new development to Washu via the mental link.

Only a block away, Tenchi was finally awake. His relief at seeing that his friends had rescued him was immediate. There had been little doubt in his mind he could have defeated the terrorists himself. But, they had threatened to destroy the entire city with some fancy new bomb if he did not cooperate. He did his best to stay that way, even when they had started hitting him. Eventually he had passed out. Now everything would be all right. Tenchi was surprised to see Ryoko was not at his side. But right now there were more important things to mention.

"Washu, they said something about a bomb. Can you find it?"

"A bomb? What..." Washu's voice trailed off as she seemed to concentrate on something no one else could.

Washu's response to Ryoko was immediate and very direct.

"Don't let him use it! It'll destroy everything within one hundred kilometers!"

Ryoko moved. She could move with almost imperceptible speed when she really wanted to. This was definitely one of those occasions. The robot's arms came off at the shoulder when Ryoko's sword went through it. She held his missing appendage in her free hand.

At this range she could see she had been duped. The fake detonator was a toilet paper roll wrapped in aluminum foil.

"I didn't say that that was the detonator, did I?" He pushed the button atop the simple switch held in his other hand.

"Tenchi..."

Outside, Washu's eyes bugged-out.

"Shields!"

Everyone capable of erecting a defensive barrier did so without question. A moment later, a massive wall of energy raced towards them. Suddenly, it stopped less than a meter from the first barrier. They eyed the wall of energy in surprise.

Though it was moving too fast for the others to notice, Washu could see three vertical shapes whirling around the outer edge of the energy. It encircled and redirected the incredible destructive energy upward into space. Half the planet would probably see this display. But it was better than having a big hole where part of Japan used to be.

"Washu?" Tenchi asked in awe. "What is that?"

"That's supposed to be a Gravitic Mine detonation. But something's containing the explosion."

Aeka seemed confused by Washu's explanation.

"What do you mean something? Lord Tenchi, aren't you doing that?"

Tenchi shook his head.

"Uhn-uh."

Washu was not the only one with mental contacts. Aeka had her own link with Ryu-o. Though still a sapling, the tree had the full memories of its predecessor. Aeka could speak to Ryu-o anytime through her head ornament.

Ryu-o's response seemed impossible. It told her a first generation tree was protecting its bond-mate with the Light-Hawk Wings. When Aeka asked which tree, Ryu-o was unable to give an answer. It's only information was that the tree was full of sadness, anger, and pain over a perceived failure to please its bond-mate.

While Aeka contemplated the meaning of what Ryu-o was telling her, Washu contemplated the meaning of Tenchi's lack of involvement, coupled with the whirling Light-Hawk Wings before them. There was no mistaking the shape and power of what was containing the gravitic energy. Even she was not capable of such a feat. She looked at Sasami. The little girl was standing next to her, her eyes wide with fright. 

The vertical shaft of energy began to shrink. It quickly reduced to a thin beam, then eventually winked out, along with the Light-Hawk Wings.

The city within the area of destruction was a blasted mess. Streamers of smoke began rising from the rubble which covered the ground. All was silent except for the sound of sirens, which indicated emergency services were responding to this new crisis.

Someone finally remembered they were not all accounted for.

"Ryoko!" Tenchi exclaimed. "Was she...?"

Washu pointed at the pile of rubble where the hotel used to stand.

"Oh, no." Tenchi ran through the buried street as fast as he could. He immediately began trying to dig through the pile of steel and concrete.

Aeka started to join him, but Washu stopped her.

"Give her a second to find her way out."

Sasami overheard Washu's explanation.

"Is Ryoko okay?"

Washu watched the pile of rubble as Tenchi dug fruitlessly at the immense chunks of building material.

"'Is she okay?' Of course she is! I designed her, so I know she can handle a piddlety little explosion like that."

Just above Tenchi, a ghost-like form rose from the rubble. The cyan-haired young woman looked around, gathering her bearings. She brushed the dust from her red and black skin-tight outfit, mindful of her appearance.

Tenchi looked up when he heard something moving above him. When he recognized Ryoko, through the dust and smoke, he abandoned his digging. Scuttling up the fallen debris, he joined her on her small cement oasis amid the destruction.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

Ryoko's answer was to wrap her arms around Tenchi's neck. She held him close, just feeling his warm presence.

"I guess so." He surmised.

"Tenchi, did you like my dress?"

Tenchi smiled.

"Yes. You looked beautiful tonight." Tenchi put his arms around Ryoko, holding her close for a short time.

"Thanks."

A familiar voice intruded on their moment alone.

"Pardon me."

Tenchi looked to see Aeka had joined them. For a moment, he was worried she would make a fuss.

"The police will be here soon. It would look bad if Yosho has to bail us out of prison, even though one of us deserves it. So I think we should be going."

"You're just jealous." Ryoko weakly accused her.

"Fine. Stay here if you want. But let Lord Tenchi return home. He has had a very long day."

Ryoko looked to Tenchi for confirmation.

"Tenchi, do you want to go home?"

"Yes, please."

"All right." Ryoko teleported the both of them home, leaving Aeka behind.

"Oh, that woman!"

END INTERLUDE 1.

AFTERWORD:

So, the Light-Hawk Wings save the day, again. But, what of this new tree? I hope it's not too obvious.


	7. San Francisco Nights

****

INVASION, Interlude 2: San Francisco Nights.

FOREWORD:

I had a heck of a time figuring the time difference between San Francisco and Japan. Roughly, here's how it goes. The time difference going from Tokyo to San Francisco is -17 hours. San Francisco = GMT -8, Tokyo = GMT +9. Ryoko would gain 17 hours then lose a few in travel-time. She would probably arrive about 12 hours earlier in SF than when she left Okayama.

I also had a heck of a time trying to fit this story into the INVASION story line. I originally wanted to put this after volume 2. But certain events precluded that possibility. In addition, I originally wanted Volume 2 to occur in February. That didn't work with this story, either. So, I had to change the timeline. Officially, this event takes place in late spring (May?), just before Volume 2.

This story is primarily a T+R story. The others do make appearances. But most of the action happens with only Tenchi and Ryoko present. HOWEVER, there is a great fight scene between Aeka and Ryoko near the end. I get chills just thinking about it.

AUTHOR: Dreamr

LAST REVISION: 30 May 2002

E-MAIL: TrueDreamr@Hotmail.com

BEGIN INTERLUDE 2.

It was at dinnertime that Tenchi's father finally decided he could not hold it in any longer. Everyone was just finishing, when he broke the news.

"So, Tenchi. Are you looking forward to your school trip?"

Tenchi had known he would have to tell everyone at some point. Just leaving would have been worse than any other course of action.

"Actually, I am kind of excited about it."

"Well, that sounds nice." Aeka remarked. "Where are you going?"

"San Francisco, California, in America."

"Wow!" Washu piped in. "That's a long way off. For Earthlings, anyway. Have fun!"

"Thanks, Little Washu."

Washu smiled brightly. Tenchi was one of the few people in the house who consistently used the form of address she preferred.

"More, please!" Ryoko asked Sasami for yet another bowl of rice.

"Hmm. That is quite a ways off." Tenchi's grandfather observed. "I think the time spent will be good for you, Tenchi. Not to mention educational."

"Well, it is a field trip for the seniors in my English class."

"Do they have tasty pickles like these in America?" Mihoshi asked, raising her small bowl of sliced pickles into the air.

"I guess..." Tenchi tried his best to answer. "I'll have plenty of time to find out. I'll be gone for a week."

Ryoko's forehead hit the table.

"A week?" She looked rather distressed. "But what about me, Tenchi? What am I gonna do while you're gone?"

Aeka answered for Tenchi.

"Perhaps you should try behaving."

"I am behaving, in case you haven't noticed." Her right eyebrow suddenly elevated. "A week, huh? Do you have your own room?"

"Miss Ryoko! I don't see how that's any of your business!"

"Well, Tenchi? Do you?" Ryoko ignored Aeka.

"Excuse me, are you listening to me?"

"No."

Aeka's face turned bright red with anger.

Tenchi could see the situation degenerating, so he quickly moved on to the speech he had planned for this occasion.

"Well, I did manage to get my own room, but..."

"Want some company?" Ryoko slyly offered. "I promise you won't be lonely at night." She leaned closer to emphasize the point.

Aeka shot to her feet in indignation.

"Will you stop that!" Miniature versions of the guardians, Azaka and Kamedake, began to manifest around Aeka, indicating her temper was about to burst free of its restraints.

"Hell, no, I won't stop." Ryoko taunted her with a smile. "Not unless Tenchi asks me to."

"Actually," Tenchi loudly announced, "I've been wanting to talk about that."

That got the girls' attention. They dropped their fight plans to listen to exactly what Tenchi meant by "that".

"I've been thinking about what Ryoko was just talking about, and... I..." Tenchi's voice trailed off as he began to notice everyone looking at him with great interest.

"What?"

"Go ahead, Tenchi." Ryoko encouraged him.

"Yes, Lord Tenchi. Please tell us who, I mean, what you have decided upon." Aeka also encouraged him to continue.

More slowly, Tenchi finished his statement.

"I think it would be best if everyone stayed at home while I'm on my trip."

Everyone fell right out of their seats. Washu started cackling like she had gone completely mad. Even Mihoshi started to laugh at what she thought was a good joke.

"You know, you really had us going, there! I really thought you were going to pick someone!" She giggled into her hand. A slight blush showed the subject was a little embarrassing for her.

"That wasn't funny." Ryoko grumbled as she righted herself.

It surprised her how much she had been hoping Tenchi was finally making his choice. Her heart had raced at the thought. She took a deep breath to steady herself.

"Really, Lord Tenchi. Jokes like that certainly are not funny." Aeka agreed with Ryoko. She had been strongly anticipating Tenchi making his choice, as well.

"I wasn't making a joke." Tenchi told them. "It's just that I'm going on a school trip. It wouldn't be appropriate to have friends coming along. Besides, a lot of it will be guided tours and stuff. You'd all probably be really bored, anyway."

"Won't they give you time to go out and look around on your own?" Sasami asked him.

"Well, sure. We've got Friday night and Saturday to ourselves."

He thought for a moment.

"Hey, I know! Why don't I bring home some souvenirs for everybody?"

Everyone liked that idea. Smiles, nods, and affirmative sounds came from all around the table.

_"Well, that wasn't too hard."_ Tenchi congratulated himself on a well-played round of "Please the Girls". _"Maybe this will work out, after all."_

Tenchi returned to his hotel room after a nice soak in the hot tub. He had been surprised to see such a thing in an American hotel. It was rather small, but everybody took turns so each could have their chance at it.

His class had tonight and tomorrow to themselves so they could experience San Francisco unsupervised. Some of his schoolmates were going out tonight. As for Tenchi, he figured he would rather adventure by day.

He got two steps into his room before noticing the smell of fish. He flipped the light switch on and began looking for anything out of the ordinary. After a thorough search, he found nothing strange, except for the smell.

"Hmm..."

Tenchi began to very deliberately turn right, then he quickly spun the other direction. Although he saw nothing, he did feel the air stir around him.

"Okay, Ryoko. I know you're here. Come on out."

As expected, he was suddenly embraced from behind. Feminine laughter filled the air.

"You caught me!" Ryoko laughed into his right ear.

"Uh-huh." Tenchi quickly disentangled himself from Ryoko's clutches. He turned around to remind her of the rule she was breaking with her presence.

"I thought I told you to stay at home while I was away."

"You said you would be on your own today, so I brought you dinner." She emphasized her point by hefting the picnic basket on her arm.

Tenchi made a stern face and pointed at the digital clock, which rested on his nightstand.

"That's tomorrow, Ryoko. And it's well after dinner time."

"What? But I didn't take that long..." Ryoko's face fell.

"You forgot about the time difference, didn't you?"

"Uhn-uh. I counted. It's seven hours later here. I left this morning, so it should be dinner time."

"Nope. Try seventeen hours earlier."

Ryoko made a very disappointed sounding groan as she looked at the basket she was carrying on her arm. After a moment she came up with an alternative.

"All right. So it's almost midnight. We can have a midnight snack!"

_"She's trying so hard."_ Tenchi thought to himself.

It really was nice of her to bring a home cooked meal all the way from Okayama. Especially if it was Sasami's cooking. His mouth began to water at the thought of a real Japanese-style meal.

"Well..."

She gave him her best puppy-eyed look, almost causing him to laugh.

"All right."

Ryoko nearly jumped with joy.

"Yes!" The excited girl went straight to the coffee table and swept her arm across it, dumping the magazines off the far side. She replaced them with the basket, placing it on the center of the table. Ryoko poked it in a certain place, and the basket grew arms. Tenchi watched in awe while he pulled on his sweatpants, as the arms began arranging enough food for several people. Or enough for Ryoko's appetite with a little left for him.

"One of Washu's inventions?" Tenchi gestured to the table.

"Yup. She let me borrow it." Ryoko confirmed for him. "I checked to make sure it works before I left."

"Ah. So she knows you're here." It was more of a statement than a question.

The basket announced it was finished by deploying a small Washu-looking doll, which bowed and spoke.

"Enjoy your meal."

The two looked at the doll in surprise. Ryoko made a disgusted sound.

"Definitely Washu." Tenchi remarked.

"Ri-i-ight. Let's eat. I'm starving!" Ryoko sat down on the floor and dug in.

"Really?" Tenchi asked as he sat down opposite Ryoko. "I thought you only ate to be social."

"Well," She said around a mouthful of sashimi (that explained the fish smell), "normally that's true. But I had to let Washu borrow the gems as collateral for the basket and to keep her quiet." She forked in another mouthful. "I fwew aww de way hea an..." she swallowed, "and have to recharge my energy."

"Are you going to be able to make it back?" Tenchi asked, concerned he would not get any sleep tonight.

"I'll be able to teleport back in a couple of hours." Ryoko mentally kicked herself. "If I'd figured the time difference right, I would've left earlier. Damn it! I could've spent the day in Hawaii!"

Ryoko was running out of things to talk about. She was genuinely happy to be able to sit and talk with Tenchi for a while, but in her mind, things needed to move along. Time to think of something to heat things up a little.

A ray of light from between the closed shades caught Ryoko's attention. She pulled the drapes out a little to see what was giving off so much light.

"Tenchi, look at this!" She rolled over and threw back the drapes as far as they would go. Bright white moonlight flooded the room.

"Wow!" Tenchi came around the table and kneeled beside Ryoko on the couch so he could see the moon. He put his arms on the back of the couch for balance.

Ryoko did not have the least belief in God, or any gods. But if she did, she would be thanking them for providing such a moon on this night. She did not hesitate to slip her arm around Tenchi's and snuggle in close to him. She would take Tenchi over the moon anytime.

"Look at the waves on the beach." Tenchi pointed out.

Ryoko thought about the waves for a moment.

"Tenchi, let's go for a walk on the beach."

Tenchi looked at her.

"Now?" He asked. "It's getting kind of late."

"So?"

"So, I have to get some sleep, and you have to get home."

"Already? I could leave now, but I'd have to fly all the way. Heh. You'd probably get home before me!"

"Well, I don't think I'll get home first. But, if waiting a little while will keep you from having to fly all the way..."

"It'll help pass the time." She suggested.

Tenchi had to think about this one. A moonlight walk on the beach was pretty far up on the romance scale. He was not sure he wanted to give Ryoko that kind of opportunity. But it was not like he could just go to sleep and forget about her. She would probably try to sneak into his bed while he was asleep. Confronted with a choice between a moonlight walk, which could not be all that bad, and waking up to find Ryoko in his bed, the choice was clear. Too bad all of Tenchi's choices were not so clear.

"All right." Tenchi acquiesced. "But nothing else." He made sure to specify the conditions of their walk. "We come straight back here."

"Okay." Ryoko agreed without thought. "Good thing I wore my bikini."

"Bikini?" Tenchi gulped. Ryoko stood up and began to undress. She had taken to wearing more revealing outfits since the weather had warmed, and this was no exception. Tenchi made sure to keep his eyes outside the window until she finished.

"Tenchi, how do I look?"

Tenchi took a deep breath, then turned his head to look. He had to look twice. Ryoko's smile grew. She liked making him look two or even three times at her.

"Uhh..."

"Yes?" The scantily clad girl prompted.

Tenchi did not want to, but he had to look again, as if he needed verification of what he was seeing. Ryoko was wearing a two-piece that was, to a word, stunning. Though it actually covered more of her skin than she usually displayed, the cut emphasized her overall body shape rather than chest size. The top covered everything from Ryoko's breasts to the bottom of her rib cage. She had long favored strapless bikini tops. This one was no different.

The bottom left no doubt as to the firmness of Ryoko's stomach. None of that was hidden. The material was cut from the top of her hips downward at an angle to exactly where it should. What was different was that it was not a string bikini or triangular, but v-shaped. The two sides met about halfway below her navel then continued the rest of the way down.

Once Tenchi got over his initial shock, he was able to look a little more objectively at Ryoko. There was something different about her, overall. She seemed less threatening and more womanly. She certainly had not gotten thick or chubby. She just carried herself a little differently than she used to.

"Ryoko..."

"Tenchi..." Ryoko said back.

"You... look... like... you're ready to go for a swim." Tenchi congratulated himself for getting out of that one smoothly. It was a close call.

_"'Ready for a swim'?"_ Ryoko quoted to herself. She had gotten this suit on Jurai. There was literally nothing like it on the entire planet and all Tenchi could say was she looked ready for a swim.

_"No way."_

Tenchi looked way too relieved for something that easy. He had looked for a long time for such a simple answer.

Tenchi was still leaning on the back of the couch, so Ryoko rejoined him, making sure to get real close. He inhaled sharply.

_"Uh-huh."_ She skeptically thought. _"'Ready for a swim' my ass."_ She took a strong sniff of Tenchi. If her sense of taste sucked, her sense of smell was conversely as good. She could detect minute traces of airborne chemicals, and the air around Tenchi was heavy with his pheromones. She almost lost herself in the heady sensations they brought on. Quickly backing off, Ryoko blinked a couple times to clear her mind. She did not want a repeat of what had happened last Christmas, even if it had been a robot imposter.

"Why don't we get going?" She suggested.

Tenchi looked at Ryoko in surprise. She was letting him off the hook. That did not happen everyday. He made sure to take the opening Ryoko was offering.

"Okay. Let's go."

Tenchi and Ryoko made it all the way out to the beach before either of them thought to say anything. No one had seen Ryoko come in, and both the desk clerk and the doorman completely ignored them on the way out. The hotel had direct access to the beach, so there was no chance for anyone else to notice them. Tenchi was worried one of his school mates would see and recognize Ryoko, but they were in luck. None of them were around.

Tenchi was expecting Ryoko to try something on the way to the beach, perhaps in the elevator. But nothing had happened. It was not until they got out on the open beach that Ryoko finally took his hand in hers. Tenchi had been wondering how he would deal with Ryoko at this point, but no ideas had presented themselves. So, he went with his instincts. Right now, his instincts were telling him not to worry so much.

A nearly full moon looked down on Tenchi and Ryoko as they strolled along the San Francisco beach. Waves lapped warmly at their feet. Occasionally they came across the local fauna in the form of a gull or crab. The gulls were smart enough to avoid them if they got too close for comfort. The crabs were either too dumb, or too confident to move. These, they easily skirted around. At one point they came across a dead jellyfish lying on the sand. Ryoko was intensely curious. She had heard of jellyfish, but had never actually seen one before. Tenchi was only too happy to tell her what he knew of them.

After a few pokes and prods, Ryoko lost interest in the jellyfish and pulled Tenchi by the hand further along the beach. She playfully circled him once, making sure they ended up next to each other. As Tenchi came full-circle, Ryoko stepped close and pinned his arm around her waist.

"You did that on purpose." Tenchi accused her.

"Duh." She intertwined her fingers with Tenchi's. "Don't you dare let go."

Ryoko could feel Tenchi flexing his hand in her grip, trying to find how much play she was allowing him, but there was none. There would continue to be none so long as the guys she had seen earlier still followed them. It was time to return.

"Tenchi, we should go back now."

"Tenchi look at Ryoko in surprise. He had not expected her to want to return so soon. They had only been out for a little while. Well, more sleep for him.

"Are you sure?"

"Very." Ryoko quietly answered. She began guiding him further up the beach towards the buildings and streets. "Let's go this way." She led him up an access street. They went in a block then turned right, back towards the hotel Tenchi was staying at.

As the two of them rounded the corner onto a regular street, Ryoko took a surreptitious look behind. There was no one.

"What's the rush?" Tenchi asked, trying to keep up.

Ryoko suddenly realized she was almost dragging Tenchi along. She slowed considerably and tried to relax.

"Guess I'm just anxious to get back." She laughed it off.

The street was fairly well lit and their pursuers seem to have given up. There was no longer any reason to rush. They walked steadily towards the hotel.

"Ryoko, can I have my arm back now?"

Ryoko considered Tenchi's request for a moment before deciding.

"No." She playfully answered. "It's mine now, and I'm keeping it."

"Hey, come on, Ryoko! You can't keep my arm!"

"Why not?"

Tenchi was opening his mouth to tell Ryoko exactly why not, when a baseball bat whipped out from the alley they were passing and hit Tenchi in the stomach with a dull "whump". Before either of them could utter a sound, four more men grabbed them and hauled them into the dark alley.

Ryoko was feeling more surprised than threatened. It had been thousands of years since anyone had been stupid enough to try mugging her. If Tenchi were not with her, she probably would have had some fun with them. One of Ryoko's captors put a hand over her mouth to stifle any alarm she might raise. She bit down hard.

"Ow! Fucking bitch bit me!" He yanked his hand away. The others laughed.

"Quit screwin' around." The one with the bat said. He stood between the two guys holding Tenchi. "Get 'er ready. A'll take care a this guy." They dropped Tenchi to the ground, where he clutched at his stomach and groaned.

"Sayonara, sucker." The guy raised his bat overhead.

The two men holding Ryoko were very surprised when she suddenly was not there anymore. They were even more surprised when she reappeared behind their leader and threw him against a metal dumpster. The alleyway resounded with the impact. The two guys that had been holding Tenchi tried to grab Ryoko.

**"GET AWAY!"** She screamed.

They were blasted back by some unseen force. Ryoko could generate intense pulses of kinetic energy, as well as her explosive energy bolts. Normally she used only a small fraction of her power to push someone, usually Aeka, back a few steps. This time she used a much larger fraction.

The two gang-bangers were flung against the alley walls. Their bones shattered with the impact, which was strong enough to crack the cement walls. They fell to the ground.

Ryoko did not stop to admire her handy-work. The remaining two were reaching for handguns. She gathered energy into each hand and, like a double-barreled shotgun, blasted them. They exploded like grapefruit, showering the alley with gore and blood. Ryoko shielded herself and Tenchi from the red rain. A gurgling voice behind her spoke.

"Die, monster!"

The alley rang with semi-automatic gunfire. The bullets deflected harmlessly off of Ryoko's shield as she turned to face the gang leader. When the weapon clicked, signifying he had used all of his ammunition, Ryoko leapt, landing a hands-breadth away from his face. She wanted him to get a good look at her. Especially her eyes. Those eyes which had terrorized millions of people on countless worlds. Her breath curled around the face before her. It smelled of doom.

"You like killing and raping, don't you?" Ryoko whispered in the darkness. The alley had grown very quiet. The only sound besides their breathing was of Tenchi trying to get to his feet. The sounds of his scrabbling against the pavement only intensified her hate.

"Since you like death so much, I think I'll give you some."

Ryoko gathered the man's denim jacket in her hands and bodily lifted him off the ground. She turned to her right and, ignoring his pleas not to kill him, shoved his head into an overhead air-conditioner.

The unit's powerful fan split her assailant's skull, showering blood everywhere. She felt the tiny electrical pulses that ran the unit, flow through her, and added her own current to them. The body jerked and jumped as muscles were fed conflicting signals. Wisps of smoke began curling into the air.

Memories of the last time someone had tried to kill Tenchi flooded Ryoko's mind. Her desire for vengeance against Kagato for his nearly successful attempt on Tenchi's life had not been sated when Tenchi had defeated him. The anger and hate had festered and boiled within her until this person reopened her wound. Everything that remained poured out.

Ryoko poured all her energy into a massive electrical attack. Energy arced around her to anything metal. A terrifying scream tore it's way from Ryoko's throat as she finally vented her suppressed feelings.

The bolts of energy lessened, then eventually sputtered out, along with the scream. What was left of the now charred denim, crumbled in Ryoko's hands, allowing the incinerated body to fall from her grasp. She watched as the last of the ashes fell from her hands.

"Ryoko..." Tenchi called from where he was just now getting to his knees. Ryoko quickly joined him, wrapping an arm around his chest to support him.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"My stomach hurts like mad. But I think I'll be okay."

Sirens could be heard as police responded to calls of a disturbance in the area.

"We have to go." Ryoko decided.

She teleported with Tenchi out onto the beach. As soon as they appeared, Ryoko's vision began to blur. A strange, queasy feeling took hold of her insides and twisted them around.

"Tenchi, I think I'm gonna pass out."

"What?!" In a strange role-reversal, suddenly Tenchi was the one supporting Ryoko. A moment later, her legs gave out. He tried to hold Ryoko up, but his stomach muscles would not cooperate, so he lowered her to the sand. Her breathing sounded like a huge bellows as she tried to recover her strength.

"Ryoko!" Tenchi called her name.

But Ryoko was immersed in a world of nausea and starlit vision. It was nearly a minute before she became aware of Tenchi looking down at her with great concern. She put a hand over her face.

"I feel terrible."

Tenchi sighed, relieved that Ryoko had recovered on her own.

"Are **you** all right?"

"I don't know." It was a rare admission for Ryoko to admit some kind of weakness. "This has never happened to me before." Exerting great effort, Ryoko managed to roll over onto her front. She propped her head on her arms.

"I'm tired. Can we go back now?"

By what Ryoko was saying and how she was saying it, Tenchi was beginning to suspect she had merely overexerted herself.

"Of course we can. But..."

Tenchi tried to think of a delicate way to tell Ryoko she smelled of burnt flesh. He had been blinded by the intensity of Ryoko's electrical attack and had not actually seen what she had done. But he knew as well as anyone what happens when someone is electrocuted. He had also heard Ryoko using her powers as she fought their attackers. There was no doubt in Tenchi's mind that Ryoko had killed them to protect him.

"Um..."

Ryoko turned her head to face away from Tenchi.

"You can smell it, can't you?"

Tenchi was slow to answer.

"Yes."

"Did you understand what they were saying?"

"No. No, I wasn't really listening."

"They deserved it. Trust me."

Tenchi was not so sure. Ryoko had a bad temper and was insanely protective of him. He needed to know if the deaths were justified.

"What were they saying?"

Ryoko did not want to answer. But she knew if she were not honest with Tenchi, he probably would not be able to accept what she had done.

"They... wanted me. You were in their way." Ryoko felt better having told the truth.

She snorted.

"Some guys just don't understand the concept of 'Look, but don't touch'."

"No. No, they don't."

For a long time Tenchi just sat, staring across the bay. Eventually he came out of his reverie.

"Ryoko, I can't do the things you can. But, I don't know if I could've held back, either." He took a deep breath before continuing.

"Let's get you cleaned up." Tenchi rose to one knee. "Salt water should do the trick. It's good for your skin."

He understood! Her heart swelled. Tenchi's ability to make Ryoko feel good about herself was one of the prime reasons she loved him so much.

Ryoko pushed herself up into a sitting position. She took hold of Tenchi's hand and pulled herself to her feet. Her legs felt like jelly, but they held. Tenchi led her into the light surf where they could let the bay water wash the grime and, hopefully, the smell away.

As soon as the water got above her knees, Ryoko let go of Tenchi and sat right down in the surf. She rubbed her arms and legs in the salt-water. Where grit or grime proved too stubborn for just water, she took handfuls of beach sand for an abrasive and used that. Once Ryoko had scrubbed where she could as best as possible, she asked Tenchi to do the rest.

"Tenchi, could you get my back?"

Tenchi blushed a bit. He had not anticipated Ryoko would ask that of him. But even she could not scrub her own back.Tenchi obligingly knelt down behind Ryoko and tried his best to get the dirt and odor off of her. First he had to move her hair out of the way. He gathered the thick cyan mass at the nape of Ryoko's neck and draped it over her left shoulder.

"I think your hair's getting longer." Tenchi mentioned as he worked the smudges from Ryoko's back with his hands.

"Really?"

"I think so."

"I'm impressed. It takes a hundred years just to grow to my shoulders."

"A hundred years... Do you ever cut it?"

Ryoko had to think about that one.

"I cut it once. All of it. Completely bald."

Tenchi was shocked. He could not imagine Ryoko without her hair.

"Why? You've got gre--" Tenchi stopped in mid-complement. He had almost said something that could get him into trouble. Ryoko did not seem to notice.

"Kagato was furious and tortured me for a week."

Tonight, it was shock upon shock. He had had no idea Kagato had been so brutal.

"I'm sorry."

"Hah!" Ryoko laughed. "I think he's the one who's sorry. You kicked his ass!"

"I only did what I had to." Tenchi modestly claimed.

"Tenchi?"

"Yes?"

"I'm glad you think I have great hair."

She had noticed! Tenchi quickly finished and withdrew his hands.

"Okay. Done!"

"Too bad." Ryoko regretfully told him. "You were starting to turn me on."

Tenchi quickly backed away. Ryoko impishly laughed at his discomfort.

"Almost done." She announced, lying back so as to immerse her head and hair.

For a moment, she resembled the Medusa from Greek mythology, with her hair waving around in the water. She came back up with her head hanging back to let the water run down. The surf retreated, allowing Tenchi to see Ryoko in an amazingly seductive pose. The moonlight reflected of the bay water as it ran down her body and limbs. Her wet hair absorbed the light, giving it a darker tone than usual. Her arced back made her chest stick out, placing emphasis on her breasts.

Tenchi quickly looked away at the horizon, the sand, the waves, anywhere but Ryoko. He was thankful he was already sitting in the water or he would surely have embarrassed himself.

"Do I smell better now?" Ryoko asked Tenchi as she rang the water from her hair. Tenchi's nose immediately began to bleed. He hastily splashed water in his face. There was no way he could get close enough to smell her.

"That's fine." He told her through a face full of water. "If I can't smell it from here, then neither can anybody else." After a couple more splashes, Tenchi began to feel more like himself. He looked to Ryoko to see if she were ready to go. She had moved right next to him.

"I didn't ask if others could smell me. I want to know what you think."

Tenchi gulped. Ryoko turned her head away, bearing her neck to Tenchi. He managed not to panic at her proximity. As Ryoko had intended, Tenchi could smell the scent of ocean water. He quickly blurted it out.

"You smell like the ocean."

"The ocean?" Ryoko repeated. "Hmm... the ocean..." She leaned closer, nearly pressing her neck against Tenchi's face before he could scramble back, keeping a reasonable distance between them. Ryoko turned her head back, a little miffed at Tenchi's reluctance.

"Tenchi, we've been together for over two years and we haven't even kissed yet."

"Ryoko, I -- Wait a minute. Last time I checked, I was single."

"Tenchi..."

"No, Ryoko, you always do this. You have to stop it. It's really difficult for me when you get like this."

"Then what do you want, someone like Aeka?" Ryoko looked away again.

"Please, don't be mad." Tenchi asked of her.

Ryoko could not remember ever being mad at Tenchi. She had been frightened, excited, lonely, just about everything. She had even openly cried for him once. That gave her an idea.

"Block-head." She called him. Tenchi could never forget where that name came from. It really bothered him when she used that name to get her way.

"That's not fair."

"What's not fair, Tenchi?"

Tenchi though about it. What was fair? What was right or wrong?

"I don't know." Confused, Tenchi gave up. "Let's go back. I'm tired."

Even by his own internal clock, it was getting late. That meant it was probably getting close to midnight, local time. Wordlessly, Ryoko stood up in the light surf. She followed Tenchi as he led the way back to the hotel. As they were ascending the steps to the beach entrance, Tenchi stopped short.

"Dammit. I totally forgot. There's no way they'll let us in, dripping wet like this."

Ryoko did not appear to be paying attention. But she was listening. Normally she would not have hesitated to teleport or fly right up to Tenchi's room. But right now...

_"To hell with it."_ She thought. _"I'll show him."_

"Take my hand."

He looked at her suspiciously.

"Trust me."

Tenchi remembered how he had promised to try to trust Ryoko more, so he did as she asked. He felt disoriented for a moment when he touched Ryoko's hand. When he regained his senses, he realized they were in his room. Before he could even begin to consider being concerned for Ryoko, she collapsed against him again.

"Oh, shit..." she muttered against his chest. It felt worse this time, but at least she did not pass out.

"Ryoko! What did you do that for? We could have walked."

"You said..." Ryoko began. But nothing would work for her.

"Forget what I said." Tenchi told her. He swept Ryoko off her feet and into his arms. They had appeared between the coffee table and the first bed. Tenchi had only to turn and set Ryoko on the bed. Even though he set her down in a sitting position, she still started to nod off.

"Ryoko, wait. Don't fall asleep yet. I... have to tell you something."

"Hmm?" Ryoko managed.

"I'm sorry."

Ryoko considered asking "What for?". But before she could, Tenchi held her face with one hand and kissed her.

_"Stupid Tenchi."_ Ryoko blearily thought. _"Now you get romantic."_

Though she could not physically respond the way she wanted to, her heart did. She wished it would last forever. But like all good things, it ended.

"I'm sorry for being a block-head."

"Okay." Ryoko accepted the apology, then promptly fell asleep.

Aeka bade her sister a good night.

"Finished already, Sasami?"

"Uh-huh. With Tenchi in America, there was a lot less mess to clean."

"Of course. That woman makes a mess out of everything. You saved a great deal of wasted food by not setting Ryoko's place at dinner tonight."

"Oh, thanks. It really did make -- eep!" Sasami clamped a hand over her mouth. Aeka looked up at Sasami from her place on the couch.

"It's all right, Sasami. I'm not mad at you." She returned to her embroidery. "I'll deal with Ryoko when she returns."

"Please don't be mad at Ryoko." Sasami pleaded with her sister. "She only wanted to bring Tenchi his supper."

"Be that as it may, we all promised Lord Tenchi we wouldn't bother him while he was away on his trip. Ryoko obviously had no intention of keeping her word. She must be reminded of the importance of keeping a promise."

"But, Ryoko's always been like that."

"That's no excuse!"

Sasami's eyes got big. Her sister did not usually shout at her. Aeka was quick to apologize.

"I'm sorry, Sasami. I didn't mean to yell. It's getting late. Why don't you get some sleep."

"Aren't you coming, too?"

"No. I'm not feeling tired yet. I'll be along in a little while."

"All right." Sasami unhappily said. She had a feeling Aeka was going to do something mean to Ryoko when she got back. Sasami walked up the stairs and joined Ryo-o-ki on her way to bed.

Aeka sat quietly working on her embroidery. Yes, she would deal with Ryoko when she returned. It was getting to be very early morning in San Francisco. It would not be much longer.

Shortly before 2 AM, Aeka heard the front door slide open, and then shut. She set her nearly finished embroidery down and quietly rose to her feet. The house was very quiet, and Ryoko's footsteps, soft as they were, were still audible. When the steps passed by the first set of stairs and continued on towards the lake side of the house, Aeka became slightly puzzled.

_"No matter."_ She thought, heading-off Ryoko in the hallway. She stepped directly into the stealthy girl's path.

"Eee!" Ryoko jumped. When she recognized the person in front of her, she relaxed. "Damn it, Aeka. What are you trying to do, scare me to death?"

"Welcome home, Ryoko." Aeka greeted her. "How was Lord Tenchi?"

"You waited for me? I didn't know you cared."

"Oh, yes. I waited. I felt it was imperative that I remind you of how important it is we keep our word to Lord Tenchi. As well, I should point out how disreputable a person you are for returning at such a scandalous hour."

"Scandalous? Bah. It's barely two."

"Yes. In Okayama it is. But in San Francisco it's nine in the morning." Aeka's gaze hardened. "Were you with Lord Tenchi all night?"

Ryoko inwardly groaned. There was no way Aeka would let this go easily. By her look, she was spoiling for a fight. In her presently depleted condition, Ryoko did not like her odds of winning.

"You know, it's late, and I really don't feel like playing right now. How about I tell you all about it tomorrow?"

Aeka looked surprised for a moment. She then cast her eyes downward and closed her eyes.

"Very well. If that's the way you want it."

Ryoko nearly choked. Aeka was letting her off the hook! Now she could go get some real rest and retrieve her gems from Washu in the morning.

"Great! See ya tomorrow."

Ryoko turned to go back to the stairs and caught a full power Jurai energy blast, point-blank, in the back. At her full power, it might have tingled. In her present state, it actually hurt a little. Somewhat like a hard slap. The attack sent her flying through the back door and into the yard. Good thing the door was thin.

Ryoko righted herself in mid-air, turning back towards the house so she could see where Aeka would be coming from. The door frame exploded as Aeka came flying out. Her energy shield dug a huge furrow in the yard as she rushed to attack.

Ryoko dodged to her left, avoiding Aeka's bull-rush. She turned and fired a couple energy bolts at her opponent as she circled left. Aeka suddenly changed course skyward, then let loose with an energy blast of her own.

Ryoko teleported. She knew Aeka's weakness was physical strength and her inability to manifest her powers in more than one way at time. When she fired energy bolts, her shield would go down for a short time. Firing an energy bolt through an impenetrable force shield did not work so well.

Ryoko reappeared directly behind the princess and grabbed her around the neck. Aeka pulled and scratched at the ex-pirate's arms. Ryoko spoke into her ear.

"You don't really think you'll win, do you?"

Aeka's answer was a major shock. Somehow she conducted hew power through her skin. Since Ryoko was in direct contact with Aeka, she got a huge dose of destructive power. She immediately released Aeka. Ryoko's arms felt numb from the shock. They still worked, but she could barely feel them. Aeka turned and fired another energy blast that Ryoko was barely able to avoid.

"I took a page out of your own playbook, Ryoko! Now hold still!" Aeka called on her holding shield. The holding cells appeared around Ryoko instantly, giving her no opportunity to evade.

Ryoko started to worry a little. Aeka was giving a much better accounting of herself than normal. She had apparently been holding back in their previous tussles. Another energy blast came her way. As she had to before, Aeka released the holding shield to fire on her opponent.

Ryoko had no choice but to teleport again or take the full force of Aeka's attack. This time, Ryoko reappeared below Aeka. Her target spun around, expecting an attack from behind. There was none. She looked up. Nothing again.

Below her, Ryoko was beginning to feel the strain of her constant energy consumption. Next to duplication, teleporting was her most draining technique, closely followed by energy attacks. But in battle, you fight first and recover afterward.

Ryoko summoned a ball of energy to he right hand and made a fist. The ball elongated out the top of her hand, forming an energy saber. The forced change in shape made the energy hiss and crackle.

Aeka looked down just in time to catch the tip of the saber just under her chin. Her head snapped painfully back. The second strike came when Ryoko spun around and hit her in the stomach with the butt of the weapon. The third was a backhanded slash that caught Aeka across the side of the face as she was doubling over. Ryoko reached out with her free hand and grabbed the back of Aeka's shirt as she spun from the impact of the third strike.

"Hah-a-a-ah!" Ryoko threw her opponent directly at the ground below. Dazed, Aeka was unable to stop herself from hitting the ground. She did manage a partial shield that gave he some protection. Up above, Ryoko began yelling at her.

"Aeka, you're being stupid! You know how Tenchi is! He slept in his own bed and I was in the spare!"

Ryoko could see, in addition to Aeka climbing to her feet, and audience was gathering. Mihoshi was looking out the kitchen window, as if it were safer inside the house. Sasami and Ryo-o-ki stood just outside the now ruined doorway, peeking around a corner. Katsuhito was quickly descending the steps from the shrine where he usually stayed.

"You lie poorly, Ryoko." Aeka responded to Ryoko's explanation. "I know better than to trust you. I'll bet you forced yourself on Tenchi!"

It took a lot to for Ryoko to get truly angry. Considering the events of the night before, it was the wrong thing for Aeka to say.

"Shows how much you know, bitch!" Ryoko released her hold on the energy saber, which resumed it's original spherical form. She gathered her power, then fired it at Aeka in one large blast. Aeka's shield hardened in anticipation.

The patron of the house finally arrived. He strode quickly, yet calmly, to Sasami.

"What are they fighting about now?"

Ryoko's shot struck the earth in front of Aeka's shield, sending a huge cloud of dust and dirt into the air. Aeka was alarmed to find she could not see beyond the confines of her shield.

Sasami was upset over the girls' conflict, but she tries her best to explain.

"Big Brother, Aeka's really mad at Ryoko because she went to see Tenchi. When I woke up, they were already fighting. I came out to tell them to stop. But, Aeka said something really nasty to Ryoko and now they're both mad. I don't think they're going to stop."

Ryoko phased into the ground. She had planned on missing that shot. With Aeka blinded, she could move about and disappear without her knowing. Ryoko had observed another interesting aspect of Aeka's shield. If it extended below the ground, when she took off, the ground below her would be brought along for the ride. Since that was not the case, her shield did not extend below the ground where Aeka stood. She would be vulnerable there. Knowing this, Ryoko rose up directly behind Aeka again, this time inside her shield. She began to power-up a payback shot for Aeka's first assault, but her body finally betrayed her. Ryoko's head began spinning like a top. She desperately tried to reabsorb the energy she had summoned. Somehow, Aeka sensed Ryoko had penetrated her shield. She spun around and nailed Ryoko with a huge uppercut, sending her flying into the air.

"Now I have you!" Aeka shouted as she fired as big a blast as she could muster. Without waiting to see if she hit, Aeka flew into the air, intent on following up with a physical assault.

Ryoko's head had been spinning already when Aeka hit her. Now she felt like she was in some kind of weird laundry machine. Then the energy blast hit. The energy coursed through her body, then dissipated, taking her vision with it. Ryoko could feel the air rushing by. That did not make sense. She was not even trying to fly anymore.

Aeka smashed shield-first into Ryoko. The energy transferred into her target, causing the girl more problems, as well as real pain. She could not tell if she were flying or spinning anymore, and her ears rang. Through the ringing, Ryoko could hear Aeka taunting her.

"Here's some of your own medicine!" Aeka threw Ryoko into the ground. Ryoko was so out of it at this point she made no attempt to defend herself. She did not even really feel the impact when she hit.

_"That didn't hurt."_ Ryoko told herself. But Aeka did not stop there. She followed again with an energy blast. This one hit dead on. Something inside Ryoko snapped. She screamed.

Watching from the house, Katsuhito decided he had better put a stop to this. Things had gone too far for his taste. Before he could intervene, a hand clamped onto his wrist. 

"Wait." Washu told him.

"Are you certain?" He asked.

"Just a little longer."

He looked back to the action.

Aeka landed on the scorched earth just above Ryoko's head.

"Now you get what's coming to you. I'm going to rid the galaxy of your abominable presence once and for all."

Ryoko dimly heard Aeka's threat through her pain. She knew she had lost. At least she went down fighting. She lay on her back, waiting.

"Get..." Ryoko tried to tell Aeka to hurry up and finish it. "Get it over with."

Aeka raised her hands over her head and began gathering as much energy as she could handle at once.

Ryoko turned her thoughts to Tenchi. If she were going to die, it would be with him in her mind. Actually, she felt relieved. At least she would not have to listen to people call her a monster anymore.

Raindrops fell on Ryoko's face.

_"Figures. I'm about to die and even the Gods are pissing on me."_

Several seconds later, nothing had happened. What was Aeka waiting for? Her eyes drifted open. There were still stars floating across her field of vision. But at least she could see. Aeka stood over her, her hands held over her head. She was crying. Aeka sank to her knees, coming down almost on top of Ryoko's head.

"How can you live with so much pain?"

"What are you talking about?" Ryoko croaked, annoyed at the delay.

"I saw it all. Five thousand years of pain. I am so sorry."

Washu breathed a sigh of relief.

"They should be all right now."

"What happened?" Sasami asked. Washu was only too happy to explain.

"When I created Ryoko, I anticipated the possibility, however remote, that she could someday be destroyed. So I engineered in an emergency memory dump which would be triggered if she felt her life were in danger.

"Normally, the dump would be received by Ryoko's gems. Since I have them at the moment, her memories were received by the nearest appropriate receptacle, namely Aeka."

"So, if I understand this right," Katsuhito translated for Sasami's benefit, "Ryoko though she was going to die, so she transferred her memories to Aeka."

"Not a transfer, but a copy." Washu corrected.

Katsuhito leaned down to Sasami. "Did you get that?"

"Yeah, thanks." Washu's explanation had only confused her more.

Mihoshi finally emerged from the house, closely followed by Nobuyuki.

"Is it over?"

"Looks like it." Washu stated. "Let's give them a few minute to square things up." Washu clapped her hand together twice. "Shows over. Back to bed everyone. Back to bed."

Ryoko finally thought of something to say.

"Aeka?"

"Yes?"

"Does this mean you're not going to kill me?"

"Of course I'm not." Aeka confirmed.

"Good thing. Tenchi would never have forgiven you."

"And here I was calling you a monster. What a hypocrite I've become."

"I'll say."

"Well, you don't have to agree so readily."

Ryoko grinned.

"You're so easy to tease."

"It must be because you're the first person who ever dared try."

Ryoko started to laugh, but whatever had broken inside still hurt. She grimaced instead.

"Where's Washu?"

"I'm right here." Washu's young voice sounded from the girls' right. She had managed to sneak up on them.

"Got beat up, huh?"

"Shut up! Urh --" Ryoko's face momentarily contorted in pain.

"I'll take that as a 'Yes'."

Washu held up her right hand. The three gems whirled around above her palm. "Bet you want these back."

Ryoko did not hesitate to take the games. She grasped them in her hand and willed them back into her body. They mystically appeared on her wrists and neck, where they should be. Their power flowed into Ryoko, rejuvenating her drained systems. Her aches and pain were swiftly remedied. She took a deep breath, relieved not to have to worry about her safety any longer. She sat up.

"Ugh. I'm gonna take a long bath, then sleep for the next two days."

"You'll let Lord Tenchi return home without greeting him?" Aeka asked, surprised.

Ryoko thought about it for a moment. It would not hurt to miss Tenchi's arrival. Still, she was looking forward to seeing him again.

"Aeka, did you really get all my memories?"

"I... don't know." Aeka looked to Washu for the answer.

"Yup. That's the way it works." Washu confirmed.

"Then there's some things we have to talk about. I don't want you blabbing to Tenchi about the wrong things."

Considering the nature of some of Ryoko's memories, Aeka considered that a prudent course of action.

"Yes, indeed. That is one thing we can agree on. I think I'll join you for that bath."

The three of them got up from the ground and headed for the onsen. Ryoko turned to Washu.

"Who invited you?"

The next morning, Tenchi returned home. His father drove to the school to get him, since it was too late to ride the bus. The entire family had agreed at breakfast not to tell Tenchi what had happened the night before. During the day, the girls worked diligently to repair the damage they had done to the yard and house. Ryoko and Aeka competed to see who did the best work.

When Tenchi returned, he could not help but notice the yard had been turned and completely reseeded. The grass was already six inches high. Tenchi figured it must be one of Washu's special seed blendings.

Tenchi almost did not notice the new doorway, it resembled the old one so much. What gave it away was the new sign identifying the family in residence. Of course it identified them as the Masaki family. But it also included the girls who were not actually related to him. Tenchi was not sure whether to laugh or cry. He slid the door open, expecting to be tackled by an over-enthusiastic Ryoko. Instead, both she and Aeka were waiting inside. Aeka instantly bowed and greeted him.

"Welcome home, Lord Tenchi."

This was different.

"Uh, hi, Aeka. How... uh, what's going on?"

Ryoko stood upright from the place where she had been leaning on the wall. She calmly walked forward and gave him a big hug.

"Welcome home, Tenchi." More quietly, she whispered in his ear. "Thanks for last night."

Very lightly, so Aeka would not notice, she brushed her lips across Tenchi's cheek as she released him.

Tenchi look at Aeka, expecting her to fly into a rage at Ryoko's flirtatious behavior. She stood by, calmly and respectfully waiting for him to enter.

"By the look on your face, Lord Tenchi, I would venture to guess you wish to know what changes have occurred while you were away."

"Uh, yeah."

"Simply put," Aeka explained, "Ryoko and I have come to an understanding on certain issues."

Tenchi felt a spark of hope come to life within him.

"Really?" He turned his attention back to Ryoko.

"Yeah, no more fighting." She did not seem too enthusiastic.

"I am so glad to hear you say that." Tenchi told them.

"Lord Tenchi, Sasami is almost done preparing dinner. Please, join us."

Tenchi's mouth started to water at the thought of Sasami's cooking.

"Mmm. I've been living on beef and potatoes for a week. I could use some home-cooked Japanese food." Tenchi quickly dropped his bag and shoes. He walked straight into the main room looking for food. Dinner was ready. He also found everyone arranged around the dinner table and a big banner that said "Welcome Home, Tenchi!"

"Guys, you shouldn't have. I was only gone for a week."

Ryoko walked by on the way to her place next to Tenchi at the table.

"A week too long if you ask me."

Tenchi found out later the extent of Ryoko and Aeka's "understanding" when Ryoko tried to steal Aeka's dessert.

"Ryoko! Give that back this instant!"

"Come and get it, yourself." Ryoko told her.

"What gives you the right to steal my dessert?"

"It's the right to a free dessert." She chimed back.

"Excuse me." Tenchi interrupted. "I thought you two weren't going to fight anymore."

"We're not fighting." Aeka explained. "We're arguing."

"That's right." Ryoko agreed. "And I think we'll be arguing a lot from now on."

Tenchi realized the peaceful family life he had envisioned earlier was not going to happen anytime soon. Still, it was an improvement. Maybe now he could devote more thought to understanding his feelings instead of trying to maintain his sanity.

END INTERLUDE 2.

AFTERWORD:

Aww, no more fights? I am so terrible. Ah, well. Just one more step closer to solving the age old riddle: Who gets Tenchi? More on that in INVASION: Volume 2.


	8. Encounter with Fate

****

INVASION, Volume 2, Part 1: Encounter with Fate.

DISCLAIMER: Tenchi Muyo! is copyright AIC/Pioneer, LDC. I claim no rights to the characters or story. I'm only doing this because I love the whole series and enjoy writing stories about the characters. I only ask that no changes be made to this story, as it took me a great deal of time to write it.

FOREWORD: Ah. So we're finally into Volume 2. It's time for the inevitable quick review. Tenchi and gang had a strange little adventure out in the neighborhood of planet Jurai, in which Ryoko convinced Tenchi to return her gems.

On the romantic side, Tenchi appears to be leaning in the direction of Ryoko. Let's see if I can do something about that. Maniacal laughter can be heard in the background.

This Volume is my idea of what could happen in OVA 3. Mr. Kajishima mentioned a new character tentatively named "Z". He should be plainly evident in this story. Please let me know what you think of this guy! I'm very interested in your opinions about him.

AUTHOR: Dreamr

FINAL REVISION: 14 June 2002

E-MAIL: TrueDreamr@Hotmail.com

BEGIN CHAPTER 1.

Aeka did not agree with Tenchi's decision to send Ryoko out to buy supplies for the spring festival at the Masaki Shrine. She tried to reason with him as they carried boxes up the shrine steps.

"Lord Tenchi, I have serious doubts about sending Ryoko into town by herself."

"Why not?" Tenchi asked. "Ryoko's always just loafing around, so I thought we should get her to help out a little."

"Well, that's fine. But you gave her money!"

"Actually," Tenchi pointed out, "Grandpa gave her the money."

"Lord Tenchi, you know what she will spend it on."

Indeed, Tenchi did know what Ryoko might spend the grocery money on: Sake.

"Aeka, if we don't give Ryoko some responsibility, she'll never become, well, responsible. Besides, the only other thing to do was carry these boxes up to the shrine. That's too easy."

"I see. So you trust Ryoko with more responsibility than me."

Tenchi gave a startled look to Aeka.

"What, are you kidding?"

The corner of Aeka's mouth twitched slightly, giving her away. Tenchi realized that that was exactly what Aeka was doing.

"Ha-ha. Yeah, funny."

Aeka giggled.

Ryoko walked the streets of Okayama. She would have preferred to fly to the market, but Tenchi had expressly forbidden her from using her powers in town. For the time being, Ryoko would take a leisurely stroll through town. If she went for a short flight, what Tenchi did not know would not hurt him. Ryoko arrived at the place Tenchi had directed her to.

"Here it is." She yanked the glass pane door open. Looking left then right, Ryoko saw the small store had only a half-dozen aisles, though the shelves were tall and well stocked. She quickly zipped up and down the aisles, her feet barely touching the ground as she collected the items required. Before long, Ryoko's arms were full, but the list of items was only half filled.

"Shit. Now what do I do?"

"Excuse me." A male voice asked from behind her. "You look like you could use some help."

Ryoko turned around to tell whoever it was to get lost.

"I don't need any..."

Her voice caught in her throat. Although the guy bore only a passing resemblance to Tenchi, he was incredibly good-looking. He had close-cropped brown hair, which was what created the resemblance. His most striking feature was his ice-blue eyes. She felt like his eyes were looking right into her soul. She finished her sentence a little less aggressively than it had started.

"...help."

He stared at her for a few moments before speaking again.

"You're... beautiful."

"Huh?"

A jar of mayonnaise slipped from Ryoko's arms and shattered against the hard floor with a loud crash. The smashing glass shook both of them from their current state of mind. The man smiled and held out a shopping basket.

"Here."

Ryoko looked him in the face and told him what she thought of his offer.

"And what exactly am I supposed to do with that?"

The guy's smile faltered. He looked at Ryoko's full arms and realized his mistake.

"Ah, right." He changed his grasp on the basket, holding it on the sides so Ryoko could put her items inside.

"How's this?"

Ryoko's eyes narrowed as she tried to discern this person's game. He was not asking for a date, which was what usually happened when she went into town by herself. An eggplant began to slip from her grasp.

"Damn it." Ryoko leaned over the basket and opened her arms, dropping the various vegetables and condiments into it. She quickly grabbed a hold of the basket and pulled it from the guy's hands. He did not seem to mind her brusque behavior.

"May I ask your name?"

"No." Ryoko answered without pause.

He seemed momentarily taken aback by Ryoko's refusal. He quickly recovered, laughing.

"That's a first. Usually I at least get to ask a lady her name." His smile reasserted itself. "I am Zakaraia." He offered, bowing deeply.

Ryoko took the opportunity to leave. She made it around the end of the aisle before Zakaraia could straighten. Through the tall shelves Ryoko could hear him laughing to himself. She decided if he hit on her again she would have to get forceful. Luckily for him, he took the hint.

Ryoko looked down upon the shrine grounds from her perch atop the Masaki Shrine. Below her the festival-goers milled around, talking about nothing and generally enjoying themselves. She watched as Aeka and Sasami walked by. Aeka's head swiveled back and forth every few seconds as if she were looking for someone. Ryoko cackled to herself. Aeka would not find Tenchi at this festival. He had gone to bed early again, foregoing the annual festivities for a more restful pursuit.

_"Speaking of pursuit..."_ Ryoko thought to herself. _"I feel frisky. Mmm... And tonight's a good night."_

Tenchi would be alone in the house. Everyone else was at the festival. Ryoko laughed again, this time a little lower.

_"I'm coming for you, Tenchi. Or, at least, I will be."_

Ryoko pushed herself to her knees, then sat back with her arms outstretched, giving her chest and hips a good stretch.

"Thanks for the show." A half-remembered male voice spoke from behind her. Ryoko flipped over so quickly she nearly rolled off the roof.

A very attractive man stood easily on the spine of the shrine roof. He seemed completely at ease on his precarious perch. Cradled in one arm was a large bouquet of flowers; red roses, no less. Now that Ryoko had a face to match the voice to, she remembered who stood before her. It was Zakaraia.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I came to see you." He answered simply.

"Right." Ryoko suspiciously acknowledged. "And just how did **you** get up **here**?"

"The same way you did, I imagine." Zakaraia's confident smile was firmly in place.

"Ha! You wish!" Ryoko ridiculed him.

"Actually," Zakaraia clarified, "my only wish is for you to tell me your name."

Zakaraia's sweet-tongued talk was beginning to wear on Ryoko's patience. She had more important things to do.

"Why don't you get lost?" She suggested to him. The response was quick and biting.

"I have a good sense of direction."

Ryoko shot an energy bolt into the roof just in front of Zakaraia's feet. The roof burst apart, filling the air with dust and smoke.

"Find your way out of that, pretty-boy." Ryoko stood up, ready to administer a solid whooping in the strange event he could not understand her lack of interest. She got a major surprise when, as the dust started to clear, she saw Zakaraia floating in mid-air over the hole she had made. A light breeze pushed the dust around his shield-barrier. Zakaraia's eyes glimmered with excitement.

"Very cool. I like a girl with spirit."

"You're gonna **be** a spirit when I get through with you!" Ryoko charged through the air, her fist cocked back and ready to deliver. Zakaraia dodged away just in time to avoid her attack. The roses, unfortunately, were not so lucky. Red petals went flying everywhere, creating an eerily surrealistic atmosphere.

Ryoko spun in mid-air as she powered up an energy burst. Instead of Zakaraia, there was only slowly settling rose petals.

"Teleportation?" Ryoko wondered. With sudden realization, she zipped backwards through the air just in time to avoid an energy attack from above. The wayward shot hit the ground, sending a spray of earth and stone into the air. She fired back just as quickly. Her retaliatory strike engulfed her attacker in smoke and flames.

"So much for that!" Ryoko was just starting to congratulate herself, when Zakaraia suddenly emerged from the cloud of smoke at an impressive rate of acceleration. Before she could even consider an evasive tactic, he slammed into her midsection, driving them both into the ground. Dirt and earth flew into the air, creating another dust cloud.

As the dust cloud expanded outward, a lonely figure silently walked towards the center. A Shinto priest of about sixty years with grey hair and beard strode casually through the dust to settle the dispute in a calm and orderly fashion. In Tenchi's absence, his Grandfather, Katsuhito, would occasionally act as the authority figure in regards to the girls' behavior.

Ryoko found herself held down by Zakaraia's strong grip. She tried teleporting, only to find the ability would not function. She squirmed in his grasp, trying to find a weakness, all the while staring vehemently at him.

"Now that I have your complete attention, would you care to tell me your name?"

"You really are pathetic if you don't know who I am." Ryoko spat her words out.

"Well, I have my theories. But since you lost so easily, I'm beginning to think I was wrong."

Ryoko grinned from ear to ear.

"Why don't I show you just how wrong you really are?"

"Ryoko!" Katsuhito called to her. "It is not considered a good omen when demons suddenly appear at a Shinto festival. I'd appreciate it if you refrained from summoning here. I'm sure Tenchi would be very disappointed if the festival were ruined by such an occurrence."

"Looks like you just got a reprieve." Ryoko taunted Zak.

"It's true!" he exclaimed. "You really are Ryoko!"

She looked up at him in surprise. All of a sudden the guy was practically worshiping her.

"Excuse me, young man." The attendant priest interrupted. "Young ladies generally don't appreciate being pinned to the ground. Do you mind?"

"Oh. Of course." Zakaraia immediately leaned back onto his knees, allowing Ryoko to stand. Her first act upon rising was to clock Zakaraia in the mouth.

"Hey! What'd you do that for?"

"That's for groping me."

"I was not groping you!"

"Well, you had it coming for yesterday."

Aeka's voice cut through the rapidly dissipating dust.

"Where is that despicable woman? I know she must be behind this!"As Aeka waved at the dust flying in her face, she caught sight of the guilty parties.

"I knew it! There you are, causing trouble again!"

"What are YOU talking about?" Ryoko claimed. "While you were off gossiping with the locals, I was defending the safety of the shrine against this intruder." She pointed at the new-comer.

Zakaraia sheepishly pointed at himself.

"Who, me?"

Another voice cut through the dust.

"Hey! Is everybody all right?" Tenchi ran through the cloud, Master Key in hand.

"Tenchi-i-i!" Ryoko screeched at the top of her impressively powerful lungs. She teleported behind him, pretending to hide. "That mean guy tried to hurt me!"

"Huh?"

"I did not." Zakaraia explained. "If I had wanted to hurt you I would have."

"Bullshit!" Ryoko suddenly yelled from behind Tenchi, who sighed, beginning to understand what was going on. Realizing she had blown her cover, Ryoko pasted a very fake looking smile to her face, demonstrating to Tenchi how very sincere she wished to appear.

"Grandpa, what's going on?" Tenchi asked, seeing he was not going to get a straight answer out of Ryoko.

"I'm not quite sure. Why don't we all go down to the house and talk about it? I'm sure this young man has much he wishes to explain, hmm?" Katsuhito watched the object of his statement out of the corner of his eye.

"Sure." Zakaraia offered. "Oh. Sorry about the shrine. I'll help fix it. Hmm, in fact, there's a contractor in town that owes me a favor. I can get him to work on it for free."

As Zakaraia put on his best "mea culpa" face, he glance in Ryoko's direction and winked.

Ryoko's grip on Tenchi tightened a bit as she realized this guy was not going to be dissuaded with words, or by violence.

"You're how old?"

"Oh, somewhere around seventy-five." Zak answered from his place on the left couch in the Masaki house's main room.

Most of the family seemed impressed by the fact of Zak's age.

"Oh, that's no biggie." Washu explained. "There are several long-lived raced in this galaxy alone. The Juraians are only one of them." She looked at Zak. "If you want, I could do a few tests and figure out where you're from."

"Nah." Zak declined. "It doesn't really matter. I've lived most of my life on Earth. This is my home, now."

Aeka continued the questioning.

"You said 'most' of your life. How did you arrive here?"

"Well, that's a longer story. Hmm..." He considered where to start. "The truth is..." he paused for effect, "I'm a mercenary."

That drew some raised eyebrows.

"Or, at least, I used to be, until I crashed here. At the time I was contracted to chase down a loan shark. The guy skipped town with a bunch of money that didn't belong to him and the, ah, lender was willing to pay a smaller amount to retrieve him."

"I see." Aeka said. "So you're a bounty hunter for the mob."

"Was! Was!" Zak gestured emphatically, defending himself. "I make a living now fixing consumer electronics! People's stuff is always breaking and they need someone to fix it. It pays well and it's a lot less dangerous. That last job almost got me killed. Turns out that loan jumper was actually working for a rival family. When his associates showed up to pick him up, they shot the hell out of my ship. I crashed in New Mexico about fifty years ago."

Katsuhito started chuckling.

"So that's how that rumor got started."

The others looked at him curiously. Seeing that he was the only one privy to this tasty tidbit, he explained for the benefit of everyone listening.

"This world's first reasonably documented sighting of an unidentified flying object, or UFO, was back then in a little place in America call Roswell, New Mexico. There was a big conspiracy theory about the whole thing.

"That's it!" Zak agreed. "They found the wreckage of my ship, but there definitely weren't any little green men."

"So the mystery is solved!" Mihoshi exclaimed.

"Not quite." Washu went on. "I was under the impression Ryoko was the only one around with powers like you have. You always been that way?"

"Now that's the weird part. I was just a normal person until the crash. I woke up, and found myself unhurt. I walked through the scrub-lands for days, thinking I was going to die. Somehow I made it to civilization none the worse for wear. I had no food, water, or shelter. I already had martial arts experience. So I integrated my new powers with them to pass the time while I made a new life for myself."

Ryoko finally butted in.

"If you're such a good fighter, how come you just used your powers when we fought?"

"Aw, I was just having some fun."

"Well, quit wasting your time. I don't impress easily."

"Oh? You seem pretty impressed with Tenchi."

"That's none of your business!" She shouted at him while Tenchi sat, quietly blushing. Zak grinned the entire time, apparently enjoying the verbal jousting match.

Aeka sat just as quietly as her sister. However, she was watching more than listening. Her time in the imperial court had taught her how to learn a great deal more about a person's true motives by what they did with their body, rather than their words. Zakaraia, or Zak as he said he preferred, spoke volumes more with his body than his voice. His body language said he had things he kept hidden as he spoke with most of the family. Aeka neither saw nor heard any reason to disbelieve his claims of past history. Everyone had certain secrets they would rather keep hidden.

On the other hand, he was much more at ease when he addressed Ryoko. He was making it obvious he was attracted to her. Why, was beyond Aeka. However, this could work to her advantage in the long run. An idea slowly began spinning around in her mind. Indeed, this could work out very well for everyone. Aeka decided she had no concrete evidence to disbelieve Zak for the time being.

"Well," She began her endorsement, "it seems Zakaraia certainly has an interesting past. It's good to know he has seen the error of his ways and decided to become an upstanding member of society on this planet. I understand you even volunteered to repair the damage to the shrine on behalf of our resident troublemaker."

Ryoko shot Aeka a nasty glare.

"Who are you calling 'troublemaker'? You do just as much damage as I do!"

"Only because you don't respond to reason. If you were not so ridiculously over powered, such tactics would not be necessary."

"I think my powers are just right for crushing little princesses like you."

"Oh, yes. You are so powerful that my family still continues to rule the Jurai Empire after thousands of years." Aeka taunted Ryoko.

"Wait a minute." Zak interrupted. He paused for a moment when he noticed Sasami, Mihoshi, and Tenchi all gesturing at him as if he should not get between them.

"WHAT?" Aeka and Ryoko snapped at him.

"Ah, heh. Um, are you saying, you're Juraian royalty?"

"Her?!" Ryoko lambasted the princess. "She just a stuck-up little princess!"

"Yes, I am royalty. As are my sister and brother."

"Oh, I see." Zak nodded. "You certainly do resemble the children of Funaho and Misaki." Zak said, mistaking Aeka as Funaho's daughter.

"Actually," Katsuhito jumped in, "the Prince Yosho was our ancestor. Aeka, therefore, likes to think of me as her brother."

Aeka shrewdly avoided looking at her brother. He apparently wanted his identity to stay a secret from this person, so she obliged him.

"Yes, that is the case." She agreed. "However, you have made one mistake. Sasami and I are both the daughters of Misaki Jurai."

Zak looked back and forth, trying to understand why they looked so different. Taking advantage of Zak's confusion, Ryoko used the opening to harass Aeka some more.

"No, it's not a wig. I thought the same thing at first, too." She leaned around Tenchi and pulled Aeka's hair. "See?"

"Ow!" Aeka yelled in pain. "You witch! How dare you! She then lean around Tenchi to do the same to Ryoko. They fell off the back of the couch and started fighting. A cloud of dust bunnies surrounded them so that only the occasional elbow or fist was visible as they went at it, hand-to-hand.

Tenchi put his head in his hands and groaned.

Zak watched, first in surprise, then in amusement. He started to laugh. The laugh went from amusement to hilarity in no time. He was soon sliding off the couch, laughing like a hyena.

"I'm a Galaxy Police Detective!" Mihoshi suddenly announced.

"You're... kidding!" Zak exclaimed between gut wrenching bouts of laughter.

His laughter soon became contagious as Sasami finally lost control and started laughing as well. Mihoshi soon followed their example. Tenchi groaned again.

"Why am I the only one who doesn't find this funny?"

Getting into the spirit of things, Washu moved next to Tenchi.

"Tenchi, dear. Everyone else is so preoccupied right now that they can't help me with my experiments. You still haven't given me that sample I need."

"No." He declined.

"Please?" Washu pleaded, batting her cute little eyes. "It's for science."

"Grandpa, help!" Tenchi cried over his shoulder.

"Oh, no, Tenchi. You invited them to stay, so..." Katsuhito flattened himself against the wall as Aeka and Ryoko rolled by, pulling and clawing at each others' hair. "...they're your responsibility. I expect you to take good care of them."

Zak continued to extol the virtues of a good laugh.

"Oh, this is rich! The first Princess of the Jurai Royal Family and the Devil Caller Ryoko are rolling around on the floor tearing each others' hair out! I wish I had a camera!"

Nobuyuki made his presence known when he popped up from the basement with a video camera in hand.

"Hey, Zak! Are you into cameras?" He asked as he caught the moment on tape.

Zak looked at him and busted out laughing again.

"Oh, God, stop it! You're killing me!"

Ryoko popped up behind Tenchi.

"Good!" She shook her fist at her would be paramour. Her long hair shook with the force of it. "Maybe you'll die and leave me the hell alone!"

Aeka's hands suddenly grabbed Ryoko, dragging her down behind the couch with a cry.

"Get back here, devil-woman! I'm not through with you yet!"

"Waah!"

The dust cloud grew in size.

Meanwhile, Washu had managed to tie up Tenchi and was dragging him towards the lab door. She had already donned her nurse's outfit in anticipation.

"Ooh! We're going to have so much fun playing doctor!"

"Somebody help!" Tenchi called.

Suddenly, Ryo-o-ki jumped on his stomach.

"Ryo-o-ki! Please help me!" Tenchi pleaded.

Ryo-o-ki hissed and spat at Washu, defending Tenchi as best she could.

Washu looked at the cabbit innocently.

"What?"

Katsuhito Masaki watched as the workers made repairs and improvements to the Masaki Shrine. Zak had kept his word on helping to fix the damages incurred during his fight with Ryoko. The priest knew full-well Ryoko had actually made the hole in the roof. One did not usually call in favors or make major financial contributions to their local religious institution just to gain the fancy of a girl. Especially one so unlikely to switch interests as Ryoko. Ah, well. At least the shrine was getting some much needed improvements.

Strolling down the steps to the Masaki home, Katsuhito breathed in the late-spring air. The mornings were getting warmer and the afternoons hotter. Soon it would be summer. Another big change would soon be upon the Masaki family. Tenchi would (hopefully) graduate from high-school in a month. He had spoken with Nobuyuki and Tenchi last fall regarding his grandson's future. They had agreed there simply was no way for Tenchi to attend college. While his grades were still good enough to get into any number of respectable colleges, the money simply was not there. Having so many mouths to feed drained the family finances at every opportunity.

The former prince hated to think of it, but Tenchi was starting to remind him of himself at his age; tired and stressed from too much worry over family matters, with no end in sight. He could remember their discussion about the finances. Once presented with the hard evidence, Tenchi had had to accept that he would not be going to college unless he could obtain a full scholarship. Such scholarships were rare and highly prized. Many prospective students vied for such honors and only a select few ever received them.

Tenchi had applied for every scholarship he could. Unfortunately, his formerly outstanding grades had suffered in the last two years. His teachers indicated Tenchi's frequent absences and reduced motivation seemed to be the cause. His performance was above average, yet, insufficient if he wanted to continue to post-secondary education in today's financial environment.

A number of smaller scholarships and grants had been made available to Tenchi. But they proved insufficient for his needs. Without some family contribution, it just was not enough. As Tenchi began to grudgingly accept that he would not be able to follow his peers to college, his pleasant and strong character changed. He became more depressed and resentful of the girls' presence. He knew if they had not been there, he would have been able to do the things he wanted. Tenchi wished to make something of himself, as his father and grandfather had. Now he would be relegated to the status of babysitter and farmer, just as he had feared.

"Hmm." Katsuhito rumbled to himself. Something had to be done.

_"Perhaps the academy..."_ He contemplated the possibility for a moment before dismissing it. _"Get your head out of the clouds, old man. As if the girls will ever let Tenchi go so far away."_

On his way down, Katsuhito passed Aeka, who was on her way up.

"Good morning, Brother." She chimed brightly.

"Oh, good morning, Aeka. Out for a walk, are you?"

"It's such a wonderful morning," Aeka explained, "I just couldn't help going out for a walk."

_"Here is someone who can appreciate the importance of a good education."_ The concerned grandfather thought to himself. He stared at Aeka long enough for her to notice.

"Is there something wrong?"

"I was just thinking how much I would like to join you for your walk."

Aeka's smile grew even brighter. They walked for quite some time, catching up, and talking of things long remembered before Aeka carefully broached a more personal topic.

"Brother, may I ask a personal question?"

"Certainly. What's on your mind?"

"I was wondering. Why did you chase after Ryoko?"

"Certainly you already know the answer to that question."

"No, I don't believe I do. Originally, I thought it was to punish her for causing so much destruction and misery. But..." Aeka stopped walking.

"Brother, I know you have secrets. We all have things we wish to keep to ourselves. But, please tell me. Was the thought of becoming my husband so distasteful?"

Katsuhito gave serious thought to what his sister was asking of him. She was an adult, now. He felt that she could handle the truth concerning his earlier years. However, out in the open was no the place to discuss personal issues.

"Why don't we go inside? We can sit and have a drink while we talk."

"Excellent idea. It is getting warmer."

They adjourned to the Shinto shrine, where Katsuhito poured them both some sake.

"So, my sister wishes to know what I was up to, eh?"

"Yosho, although I was a little young at the time, I do remember going to visit you at the academy once. You seemed so displeased at seeing me. I was nearly heart-broken. You didn't even have the common decency to introduce me to you friend."

Aeka's brother inwardly groaned as she described the time she had gone to see him and arrived at a very inopportune moment. Unfortunately, he had reacted rather poorly at being interrupted while he was with Airi. However, in this time of questioning, there were also opportunities.

"Aeka, I've been considering Tenchi's future at great length in recent months."

His sister blinked at the abrupt change of subject.

"So you won't tell me."

"He seems rather upset, lately."

Aeka showed a frown.

"That is certainly understandable considering he has a demon infesting his home."

He gave Aeka a stern look.

"Tenchi is upset because five alien women have absorbed the money his father saved for his college education."

That got Aeka's attention.

"I'm sorry." She hung her head. "I wish there was something I could do."

Katsuhito's eyes glimmered.

"I tell you what. I'll make you a deal."

Aeka looked up.

"There is still an excellent university Tenchi could attend. But, if I suggest it, I get the feeling he'll think I'm trying to get rid of him. If it came from you..."

"But, why would he listen to me any more than you?"

The priest's answer was simple.

"Galaxy Academy."

Aeka stared at him for a moment, then looked out the window. After a moment, she looked down at her sake, then drained it.

"Why would I suggest such a thing?" She asked, setting her cup on the small table between them.

"If you do this favor for me, I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

Aeka considered the offer for some time, as well as her own feelings for Tenchi, before giving her answer.

"Very well."

Zak arrived shortly after the priest went on his walk to examine the progress of the repairs being conducted on the Masaki Shrine. He had not really taken a look around yet. Now that he had a legitimate reason to be in the area, he gave himself a short tour of the grounds.

It was a Shinto shrine, pure and simple. Like most shrines, it had an area of interest. There was a small cave with an iron gate at the end of a short path. There were no signs or markers saying the area was off limits, so we went to take a closer look. He was peering through the bars into the murky depths beyond, when a strong feminine voice spoke to him from the rocks above.

"What are you doing here?"

Zak looked up to see Ryoko staring intently down at him.

"Just looking around. How come there's a gate here?"

"None of your business."

She disappeared, then reappeared next to him a fraction of a second later.

"And I wasn't talking about the cave."

He did not seem to understand what she meant.

"Why are you here?" She asked more firmly.

"Oh. Well, I kind of blew a big hole in the shrine so I figured I should take responsibility and get it fixed."

Ryoko continued to stare at him. She knew he knew it had been her who put the hole in the shrine. What she did not know was why he was covering up for her. His powers and background made him very suspicious. Zak suddenly cracked a big smile.

"Okay, you got me. I found a pretty lady that I think I like and I'm trying different things to see what impresses her."

Zak's statement had the intended effect of distracting Ryoko from her more serious motives for talking to him.

"Quit wasting your time. I already told you I don't impress."

She scowled at him to prove her point. To her surprise, Zak immediately started laughing. He slipped his hands behind his head.

"You shouldn't make faces like that! You're terrible at it. You look much better when you smile." He glanced in Ryoko's direction, and demonstrated for her.

Ryoko disappeared without further comment.

"Gotcha." Zak muttered happily.

It was unusual for one of the girls to actually meet Tenchi at the bus stop. Though it was not unusual enough to warrant any kind of suspicion. Since he lived at the end of the line, none of his school-mates knew of the beautiful girls living with him. This was fortunate for Tenchi, because if they did, he would constantly be delivering love letters from secret admirers. Aeka greeted him as he disembarked.

"Good afternoon, Lord Tenchi."

"Hi, Aeka. What's up?"

"I just thought we could walk for a while."

"All right." Tenchi agreed. There did not seem to be any harm in a little walk. As they meandered towards the house, Tenchi noticed Aeka seemed more subdued today.

"Is everything okay?"

"I spoke with my brother, today."

"That happens, sometimes."

Aeka looked at him, then giggled.

"Yes, it does. However, it is not everyday that we speak of financial concerns."

Tenchi was beginning to understand what Aeka wanted to talk about. When Aeka slowed her pace, he matched her, letting her take the lead. She soon came to a complete stop right in the middle of the path. She very deliberately bent over at the waist, bowing deeply to him.

"Lord Tenchi, I am so very sorry my presence here has become such a burden. I would make amends for my selfishness, if you will hear me."

"Aeka..." Tenchi put a hand on her shoulder. "Come on. Stand up. You don't have to apologize like that."

He made sure the princess was standing upright before he allowed her to continue.

"First of all, you're not a burden. Me, and Dad, and Grandpa, we all like having you here. Second, I bet we'd be really bored if everyone just, all of a sudden, left. You can still stay here."

"Oh, no." Aeka wiped a bit of wetness from her eyes. "That's not what I was thinking of. Although, I appreciate the sentiment. I simply wished to inform you of the opportunities available to you. Because you are of the Royal Family, the Galaxy Academy would gratefully accept your application."

"Thank you for the suggestion, Aeka. But, there's still the problem of money."

"Money is not a problem in this case. The Royal Family attends for free. The Academy used to be known as the Royal Academy. Now that I think about it, I believe Miss Washu had something to do with it separating from Jurai. In any case, the allowance is made as a courtesy to the Royal Family in recognition of the Academy's former affiliation."

"Wow, Aeka. You really know a lot about the Academy."

"Ah!" Aeka blushed at the compliment. "Well, I, um, looked it up, when my brother left Jurai to attend."

"So Grandpa went to this academy?"

"Yes, he did. For a number of years. And as I recall, Miss Washu actually used to be the headmaster there."

"Huh. Maybe I should talk to them about it."

"If you wish. It's an opportunity, nothing more."

Tenchi made to go back to the house. Aeka followed, escorting him on his way. As they walked, Tenchi considered this new information.

It was, as Aeka said, an opportunity. It was not like he was not curious about the rest of the galaxy. Now that he knew there were other people and places in the stars, he thought getting out and exploring some of these places might be interesting. In addition, getting a decent paying job without a college degree was next to impossible.

There was only one drawback. If he left for the Academy, who would keep an eye on Ryoko? He did not think she would agree to something like this. Aeka had made the suggestion, so he had to assume she was all right with his leaving. But, the more he thought about that, the less sense it made.

Aeka and Ryoko had always fought over him with equal intensity. They were both quick to anger when the other made any kind of advance at him. All things considered, if Aeka acted similarly to Ryoko, she may feel the same, as well. More importantly, her suggestion was not one a person would make to someone they were interested in, unless she either cared much less for him than he thought, or she cared much more. He had asked that of Ryoko, once. Her answer had been very honest and straight-forward. Tenchi wondered if Aeka's response would be as easy to understand.

"Um, Aeka?"

"Yes, Lord Tenchi?"

"I was wondering. Are you okay with the idea of me going to the Academy?"

Aeka stopped again. With her eyes closed, she tried very carefully to conceal the sudden surge of emotions she was feeling. It was a very considerate question, and deserved a fair answer. Despite the iron-clad controls she was implementing, her hands began to shake.

"I... I think it's a wonderful opportunity for you. Please, consider very carefully what you want before coming to a decision."

She looked into Tenchi's eyes, allowing him a fleeting glimpse of her true feelings.

"Thank you for the walk, Lord Tenchi."

With a small smile, Aeka turned and made her way back to the house, alone.

Though her answer was nowhere near as clear as Ryoko's, Tenchi knew the truth. He had seen it in Aeka's eyes, and the way she had smiled at him. The most telling aspect of her non-admission, was the fact that she was willing to give him up so he could find his own way in life.

Zak came by the shrine each day to check on the progress of the repairs. That was the official reason. Unofficially, he made a point of talking to Ryoko at least once, every time he was there. Each time they spoke, she would gruffly demand to know of his intentions. His response was the same every time. He was there to check on the repairs, and to see a pretty young woman he liked.

On this Thursday afternoon, he found the repairs were nearly completed. The foreman, the man who owed him the favor, was explaining the repairs themselves would be done by this evening. But the clean-up would take a couple hours more.

"Yeah, we would've been totally done today, but we had to make some adjustments to get the beams in. These old places have a lot of sag in them."

"It's no problem. The priest is cool about that sort of thing."

"No problem 'cause you get another day to work on that girl, eh? She's a real hottie."

"Heh. That's the truth."

"You know, this is a pretty big favor to pull in for a girl."

"Yeah. But there's something special about her. She makes my blood boil."

"Man, you've got it bad."

Katsuhito's voice suddenly sounded from right behind them, giving them both a good start.

"I'm sure if Ryoko were available, she would be flattered to hear you gentlemen speaking so well of her."

"Man!" Zak took a deep breath. "You scared the beejeezus out of me!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." He turned to the foreman.

"I'd like to thank you for your excellent work. The shrine hasn't looked this good in years."

"Oh, hey, no problem. Just spread the word. If it's all right with you, we'd like to start the clean up tomorrow."

"Of course. There's no hurry." The priest turned back to Zak. "Zak. If you have the time, I'd like to invite you to dinner tonight, as a sign of my appreciation."

"I'd love to!" Zak smiled. "Sasami made lunch for me, yesterday."

"Ah, that explains your enthusiasm. Sasami is a legitimate Iron Chef, you know."

"I'll bet!"

"Excellent. Then I'll see you this evening." With that, Katsuhito headed down the hill to the house.

"Bonus, dude."

"Huh?" Zak asked.

"You got in with the head of the family."

"Looks that way."

"What the hell is **he** doing here?" Ryoko strenuously objected to Zak's presence at the dinner table.

"I invited him." Katsuhito answered from the head of the table. "Is there a problem?"

Ryoko cringed a bit. She was not scared of the Jurai prince. But if she got on his bad side, she would also get on Tenchi's bad side. So she swallowed her anger and sat next to Tenchi with a thump.

From two seats down, she could hear muffled laughter.

"What are you laughing at?"

Aeka uncovered her mouth so she could respond.

"I'm simply delighted we have a guest. It's so rare to have company, here."

"Hello? Jurai to Aeka! You are a guest!"

"So are you, as I recall."

Ryoko did not seem to be in the mood for a more intense conflict of words. She simply hunched over the table and grumbled to herself. Aeka merely cherished seeing Ryoko so put out. It served her right for all the difficulties she had caused everyone else in the house.

Dinner was a very pleasing experience for Zak. Besides excellent cooking, there was much excellent conversation. He honestly could not remember having such a good time at a meal. Eventually, he began leading the table talk to matters he wanted to know more about.

"So, what's that cave up at the shrine about?"

"I told you, that's none of your business." Ryoko growled at him.

"Oh, that." Mihoshi was quick to explain. "That's Ryoko's cave."

"Ryoko's cave?" Zak asked.

"What did you tell him for?" Ryoko complained.

"He asked nicely." Mihoshi naively answered.

"Oh, I get it!" Zak suddenly exclaimed. "Your record said you disappeared seven hundred years ago. So that's what happened."

"My... record?" Ryoko's expression went from frustrated to worried at the mention of her Galaxy Police wanted file.

"You know, if you add up the prison terms for the crimes, it comes up to twelve hundred and thirty years. I'd say you got off pretty lucky."

Ryoko's fangs were starting to show.

"You have a copy of my file?"

"Sure. I used to use it for reference to help me understand what my bounties were thinking."

A sheaf of papers suddenly appeared in his hand.

"Did you want to look at it for some reason?"

"No, I don't."

Before Zak could send the file back to its place in his apartment, it burst into flames.

"Whoa!"

He instinctively dropped it on the tatami mats between himself and Mihoshi. The wicker-work began to darken as the flames lapped at them. Thinking quickly, but not smartly, Mihoshi grabbed the nearest liquid beverage and threw it on the flames. The alcohol in the sake immediately combusted, singeing Mihoshi's hair.

"Eee!" She promptly passed out from fright.

Zak scooted over to avoid the expanding flames. He was looking for the water pitcher when someone behind him finally got the right idea. A fire extinguisher went off, covering the dinner table area with a foul-smelling purple powder.

"You gotta use the right tool for the right job." A short red-head announced.

"Washu?" Tenchi asked, waving the fine powder away from his face.

"Now what's all the commotion about?" Washu demanded.

"That jerk had a copy of my GP file!" Ryoko suddenly blurted out.

"So you set it on fire."

"Damn right!"

"Tsk. So compulsive over something so trivial." Washu conjured her own copy of Ryoko's file.

"Just because the GP deleted the file from their computer system, doesn't mean there aren't others in existence." She began thumbing through the fifty or so pages of charges.

Ryoko was really starting to look worried, now. Unlike Zak, she could not make Washu get rid of her copy. She did the only thing she could do. Using the mental link with Washu, she begged.

_"Please, don't show it to Tenchi. Please? Mom?"_

Washu let her daughter worry a bit more before responding with a small grin.

_"Of course I won't, dear."_

She continued the conversation out loud.

"This is all wrong. Kagato did at least half of this stuff. There's one, and there's one. Oh, what a load. I'd forgotten how much garbage was in this file. Speaking of garbage, Ryoko. Isn't there something on that "Junk Wall" of yours that proves it?"

Ryoko quickly figured out what Washu was referring to.

"Yeah! There is! Hold on." She disappeared in a poof of purple powder.

"Here." She tossed the sheaf of papers to Zak. "If you want it so bad."

"I didn't catch your name."

Tenchi took the liberty of introducing them.

"Zak, this is Washu. Washu, Zak."

"How do you do." Zak politely greeted her.

"Fine, until you pulled out my daughter's GP file."

Zak hit the floor with his face.

"Daughter?!"

"That's right. I am Washu! The greatest scientific genius in the universe!"

A small Washu-looking robot popped out on her left shoulder.

"You are Washu! You are the greatest!"

A second robot appeared on her right shoulder.

"You are Washu! You are the genius!"

Washu continued the introductions.

"And Ryoko is my greatest creation ever! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

The cyan-haired teleportation expert reappeared with a 5"x8" piece of thick paper in her hand, a large golden seal of Tsunami blooming from the bottom right corner. She brandished it like it were the Light-Hawk Sword.

"Here! This proves it! Even if that statute of limitation hadn't expired. I still wouldn't be a criminal. Look!"

Everyone took a close look at the paperwork. It was a Royal Certificate of Pardon, with the King of Jurai's actual signature on it.

"Oh, wow, Ryoko! Cool!" Sasami thought it was the greatest thing. "Did you get that from Father?"

"Yes, I did."

"Is that what you got in the mail that day?" Tenchi asked.

"Yup." Ryoko sat back down right next to Tenchi and held it close so he could inspect it more thoroughly. "What do you think?"

"This is a really important document, Ryoko. You might want to put it someplace safer than tacked to the wall."

Ryoko looked less than satisfied with Tenchi's neutral review of her very important document.

"Well, good." Zak said, handing Washu back the stack of papers she had tossed to him.

"To be honest, I was having a hard time believing the pretty girl sitting here, now, was the same one in these files." He looked Ryoko in the eyes. "I'm glad I was wrong."

Ryoko was not sure she liked how Zak was looking at her. But, she did know she was glad he had apologized. Talk about her past had a funny way of pushing her buttons. Talking about it around Tenchi would send her into a panic. If there was one thing that really frightened her, it was Tenchi ever finding out what was in that file. Just the thought of it made her shiver.

"Are you cold?" Tenchi asked.

"Yeah." Ryoko pulled him a little closer.

"I was going to suggest a blanket." He explained.

"You're warmer."

Zak winked at Ryoko from across the table, sending a shiver of a different kind up her spine.

END CHAPTER 1.

AFTERWORD: It took me a while to figure out where I wanted to end this chapter. But, eventually, I decided to end it here. I spent the last two weeks on a minor deployment. However, I managed to hash-out some of the details of Zak's attempts to win Ryoko's favor.

In the next chapter, we'll see how he goes about it, and how the others feel about it. How will Tenchi react to the sudden appearance of someone so interested in her? What is Aeka's plan? Is Katsuhito trying to get rid of Tenchi? More interesting developments in chapter 2: Devotion.


	9. Devotion

****

INVASION Volume 2, Part 2: **Devotion.**

DISCLAIMER: Tenchi Muyo! is copyright AIC/Pioneer, LDC. I claim no rights to the characters or story. I'm only doing this because I love the whole series and enjoy writing stories about the characters. I only ask that no changes be made to this story, as it took me a great deal of time to write it.

FOREWORD: Originally, I had planned a scene here where Tenchi and Zak spar a bit, and Tenchi gets his ass handed to him by the new-comer. But, after working further on this volume, I decided it didn't really fit in with the way I was portraying Zak. He wouldn't want Tenchi to dislike him. Zak knows exactly how good he is and does not feel the need to fight to prove his strength.

Is it just me, or does the beginning of this chapter make you feel like something got left out?

I could easily have broken this chapter into two separate chapters. However, since both events happen before another certain event in the future, it was appropriate to group them together.

Sung lyrics are underlined.

AUTHOR: Dreamr

FINAL REVISION: 08 July 2002

E-MAIL: TrueDreamr@Hotmail.com

BEGIN CHAPTER 2.

Whenever Zak incited Ryoko enough that she began chasing him around the surrounding hills, it made Tenchi worry. It was not really any of his business what they did together. But he still preferred that she stay close by, for her own safety, of course. So, he asked Ryoko to keep things a little closer to the house. Now he wished he had not.

The sounds of Zak and Ryoko fighting echoed off the hillsides. Energy discharges flashed into the blue. Ryoko floated in the afternoon sky, waiting for Zak's next attack. Her opponent was looking up from the ground at his target. He released an energy blast that harmlessly washed over Ryoko's shield.

"What the hell was that weak-ass crap?" She taunted him.

"Weak? Well, I guess your feeling tough today! Try this." Zak fired again. This time he put much more power into the shot. Ryoko teleported out of the way.

"Zak!"

When the ground-based combatant looked to his right to see who was addressing him, Ryoko's return volley nearly roasted him.

"No fair! I was talking to Tenchi!" Zak complained.

Ryoko had not seen Tenchi from where she was, so she floated down a few meters. When she caught sight of him, she bolted, intending to grab him on the fly. Unfortunately for her, he knew she was coming, and so stepped aside. Ryoko slammed into the side of the house.

"Ha! You missed." Zak teased her.

"Shut... up..." Ryoko groaned, sliding down the side of the wall.

"You two are going to get in trouble if you keep this up. What if some government team shows up wanting to know what all the weird lights and sounds are?" Tenchi warned them.

Zak dismissed Tenchi's worries.

"Bah, we're out in the sticks. Nobody knows what we're doing out here."

Climbing back to her feet, Ryoko added her two yen to the discussion.

"Even if they did, Washu would just send them packing."

Tenchi was not ready to give up just yet.

"Uh-huh. Right. Then they send another team, this time with guns."

Ryoko dismissed that, as well.

"No problem. Then **we** send them packing." She gave Tenchi a wink and a thumbs-up.

"They'll keep coming. Next, they'll bring soldiers and tanks."

"Tanks, huh?" Zak seemed to appreciate the gravity of Tenchi's worries. "Hmm... Hey, Ryoko, I'll bet you can't balance one tank on top of another."

Tenchi's jaw dropped.

"The hell I can't." She retorted.

"The hell you can."

"I'm trying to keep you two out of trouble!" Tenchi emphasized his point.

"Tenchi, you worry too much." Zak tried to ease Tenchi's concern.

"Fine. Do whatever you want." Tenchi stormed back into the house.

"What's up with him?" Zak wondered aloud.

Ryoko watched as Tenchi stalked off, apparently upset about something. She had learned the hard way not to bother Tenchi when he got that way. She knew he would refuse to talk until he cooled-off.

"Whoa! Check this out."

Zak held out his hand. When Ryoko looked to see what he had, he belted her on top of the head with the other hand.

"Bastard!" Ryoko tried to grab Zak, but he flew away before she could get him. She shot through the air in pursuit.

Inside, Tenchi kicked off his sandals, then went straight into the main room where Aeka was quietly sitting with her embroidery. He sat down next to her, hoping for some quiet conversation, as opposed to the bedlam outside.

"Good afternoon, Lord Tenchi." Aeka greeted him. Tenchi's response was less than enthusiastic.

"Mmm."

"Is there something wrong?"

"Those two. They go flying all over the place blowing things up! It was bad enough with Ryoko, but now there's two of them! Something's going to happen. I just know it." Tenchi sighed in frustration.

"Well, look at it this way. At least Ryoko is not bothering you. She even seems much more mild-mannered these days. Perhaps she just needed someone more her type."

"So, you approve of their... relationship?"

"Absolutely." Aeka was not above praising Ryoko's behavior if it would bring her and Tenchi closer. She did not particularly care if Ryoko had a boyfriend, so long as it was not Tenchi.

"She seems to enjoy Zakaraia's company a great deal."

"I still think..."

Zak chose that particular moment to fly directly through the house. He flashed by, creating a massive air disruption in his wake. Loose papers and the flowers someone had put in a vase on the coffee table, went flying everywhere. Ryoko followed closely behind.

"Hah!" She ridiculed Zak's choice of evasive technique. "If you think flying..." Her voice disappeared as she passed through the far wall.

Mihoshi did not even budge from her restive slumber on the other couch. Aeka's hair stood out in all directions. Tenchi shut his eyes tightly. He tried not to let the disturbance get to him. But the pressure continued to build until something snapped. He stood.

"Tenchi?" Aeka asked, concerned.

"I'll be right back." Tenchi marched upstairs.

Aeka was cleaning up the spilt water from the flowers when Tenchi returned. He held a letter in his hand. Just then, Washu emerged from her lab.

"What in tarnation is going on up here? It sounds like a war-zone!"

Tenchi ignored her rhetorical question.

"Washu, I'd like you to send this for me, please." He handed the letter to Washu, who gave it a cursory examination.

"Isn't this..."

"I've decided to go."

"Really..."

"Lord Tenchi, are you referring to the Academy?" Aeka asked.

"Yes, I am." Tenchi's expression softened a little. "Aeka, I'd like to thank you for suggesting it, even though I know you don't, um, really... want me to leave."

Aeka blushed.

"I, well... It was just a suggestion."

Another explosion rocked the area, sending dust falling from the beams over head. Washu finally figured out what was going on.

"Ah! Zak must be over."

"I'm going out." Tenchi suddenly announced. He turned and went to the front door. For a moment Aeka held out hope that Tenchi might ask her to go with him, but she did not think that was very likely.

"Aeka," Tenchi called to her, "would you, um, like to come with me?"

Aeka's heart skipped a beat. She froze, unable to answer.

"Aeka?" Tenchi looked around the corner.

Aeka found her voice. "Yes!" She blurted out. "I mean..." Taking a deep breath, she answered in a more dignified manner. "Yes. I would like that very much. But," she pointed out, "how will we get past that monster-woman?"

Tenchi had not thought about that. As Aeka joined him in the foyer, Washu presented them with a solution.

"Would you like me to run interference for you, Tenchi?" Washu kindly offered.

Scratching the back of his head, Tenchi modestly thanked her.

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble."

"Oh, no trouble at all. I've got just the thing."

Tenchi and Aeka both grimaced. Whenever Washu had "just the thing", it usually ended up being more trouble than it was worth. They watched as Washu busily tapped at her floating computer console. A moment later, a small, black hole appeared, disgorging two headbands. Washu dispelled her terminal to retrieve the items.

"These headbands have the property of speeding up time for whomever wears them. Simply put it on and you'll move so fast not even Ryoko will be able to perceive you."

"Whoa!" The recipients of her gift clapped their appreciation.

"This way, if someone you don't want to see spots you in town, just put them on and you're off! No one can stop you! Ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Aeka whispered to Tenchi.

"I'm getting the feeling she did not design these for this purpose."

"Me, too."

Washu showed no signs of concluding her maniacal laughter, so Tenchi decided to interrupt her.

"Washu, could we, ah..."

"Oh! Sure. Here you go. Have fun!" She handed the headbands to the youthful pair. They put them on and, just as promised, they vanished from her perception. Just then, Washu remembered something she had forgotten to tell them.

"Whoops! I forgot to tell them the power source in those headbands will only last for an hour. Ah, well." She headed back to her lab. "At least they got away clean. Hmm. I wonder how Ryoko will react when she finds out."

Once he and Aeka got away from the house, Tenchi found himself quickly relaxing. The princess was polite all afternoon and evening, and did absolutely nothing to embarrass him. Her company did wonders for his mood. Eventually, he felt well enough to tell Aeka more about his decision regarding the Galaxy Academy. They sat at an umbrella table outside a sidewalk cafe, sipping on straws that stuck out of incredible concoctions of chocolate and ice cream.

"Aeka, I thought about what you said."

"About what, Lord Tenchi?"

"The Academy. I decided to look at it just like any other college, and sent in an application."

"I see."

"The way I figure, if I don't apply, I can't attend. So, at least this way, I'll know if they'll accept me."

"I'm certain they will." Aeka assured him.

"Really?"

"Of course. The Academy would be foolish to turn away someone so talented and intelligent."

Tenchi's face turned red.

"Uh, heh-heh. Um, thank you."

_"My goodness!"_ Aeka thought to herself. _"I can't believe I said that! Perhaps there's something in this drink..."_

An incredibly strong gust of wind suddenly took the umbrellas off of every table on the sidewalk, sending them rolling down the street. Cars swerved to avoid them, hopelessly tangling the Saturday evening traffic. Thankfully, there were no collisions. Aeka and Tenchi looked at each other, instantly knowing what had caused the incident.

"Ryoko!" They exclaimed.

Tenchi pulled out the headband Washu had given him. Aeka followed suit. They sighed in relief when they felt the familiar weight of the metal strips around their heads. Their looks of relief turned to distress when they began to notice people were giving them strange looks.

"They're not working!" Aeka realized. When she looked to Tenchi for guidance, she found he was staring right through her. Suddenly, the headband was lifted from her brow.

"So this is how you got by me." Ryoko's voice stated from behind her. "Remind me to have a little talk with 'Mom' when I get done with you."

Aeka screwed up her confidence and turned to face off against the angry devil-woman.

"Miss Ryoko, it was incredibly careless of you to send all those umbrellas tumbling into the street. Someone could have been seriously injured."

Ryoko clasped her hands beside her face and blinked her eyes with alarming frequency, mocking Aeka with her comeback.

"Miss Aeka, it was very thoughtless of you to take MY TENCHI OUT **BEHIND MY BACK!**" With the last six words, Ryoko's voice rose to an incredibly loud volume, attracting the attention of most everybody in the area.

"Don't you mock me, you she-devil!" Aeka warned her. "It just so happens, Lord Tenchi asked me to accompany him."

"You lie like a dog, Aeka! Tenchi would never go out with a self-centered egomaniac like you!"

"How dare you accuse me of such a fabrication! If you don't believe me, you may ask Lord Tenchi, himself." Aeka looked over her shoulder to draw Tenchi into the argument. Unfortunately for her, Tenchi was hiding behind an overturned table. Ryoko pressed the issue.

"Hah! Tenchi's so embarrassed to be dragged out into public with you he's gone into hiding."

"What? That is the most asinine thing I have ever heard! If anyone could embarrass Lord Tenchi, it's you! Just look at the huge mess you've created! It's no wonder Lord Tenchi is always telling you to stay at home. Your mere presence causes any semblance of normalcy to decay like rotten fruit!"

"The only decay around here is on your face!" Ryoko spat at her.

"Who are you calling decayed, you seven hundred year-old mummy woman?"

"You bitch!"

Aeka's powers began to manifest themselves visually as she powered up for a serious match.

"You have some nerve calling me a name like that, when you allow that nice young man, Zakaraia, to come courting, while you hang all over Lord Tenchi! You are the most disgusting, insensitive, malevolent, disgusting,"

"You already said disgusting." Ryoko interrupted her.

Aeka's continence abruptly changed to one more suited to apology.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I..." 

The sidewalk literally began to bubble.

"You were saying?" Ryoko taunted her.

"What I was saying was..." Aeka looked right into Ryoko's eyes and yelled as loud as she could so everybody would hear. **"You... are a whore!"**

The Masaki house resounded with the sound of a phone ringing. Since everyone seemed to be out, Sasami went ahead and answered the telephonic instrument.

"Hello. Masaki residence."

"Hi, Sasami. It's Tenchi. Could you put Dad on the phone, please?"

"Is everything all right?"

"Um, no."

"Did somebody get hurt?"

"No, nothing like that. I... just need to talk to Dad."

"Okay, hold on."

Sasami set the receiver down on the hallway table and ran to the basement, where Nobuyuki stayed on the weekends. She soon returned with the older gentleman in tow. He quickly picked up the phone.

"Tenchi, what's going on?"

Sasami watched with concern as Nobuyuki absorbed the information Tenchi was relaying to him.

"How much is it?" He asked. When he heard the figure, his mouth fell open.

"Tenchi... I don't have that much."

Nobuyuki reached up with his free hand and removed his glasses. He dropped them on the table and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingertips.

"I know. But there's nothing I can do. There's no way. You have to understand that."

There was a short pause while he listened to his son.

"I could ask. But I think I know what he's going to say. Anyway, how are they taking it?"

There was a short pause.

"Figures. Well, I'll do my best. See you in a few minutes." He hung up the phone.

"What happened?" Sasami innocently asked.

"Well, it looks like Ryoko and your sister got in over their heads."

"Are they okay?" Sasami wrung her hands with worry.

"Yeah. Nobody got hurt, fortunately. I've got to go into town with Dad. So, you and Mihoshi will be alone for a little while. Can you handle that?"

"Yes." She meekly answered.

"Hmm. Too bad you're not closer to Tenchi's age, eh? Things would be looking pretty good for you right about now."

Sasami blushed.

Tenchi felt greatly relieved when his father and grandfather were both escorted to the interview desk he was sitting at within the second precinct of the Okayama Prefecture Police Department. Although Katsuhito had a rather stern expression on his face, his eyes twinkled brightly. Nobuyuki looked apologetically at Tenchi.

"Hey, kiddo. How is it?"

"Well," Tenchi began describing the situation, "I guess they're not done questioning me. Because they won't let me see them."

Tenchi's grandfather turned around and went straight back to the information desk to ask to see the station commander. He was soon ushered deeper into the station.

"Are you done questioning my son?" Nobuyuki asked of the portly officer sitting behind the untidy desk.

"Well, from the looks of things, I don't think any charges will be filed against Tenchi. I can't let him go without the okay from the station commander. But, since he's been asking about those two girls every five minutes since we he got here, I guess I could let you check on them."

"Please." Tenchi confirmed.

The officer got up and led them to the cell block. He opened the entrance and indicated which cell contained the two arrestees.

"It's the second cell on the left. I'll be right here when you're ready."

Once they were clear of the iron-barred door, he closed and locked it behind them. When Tenchi looked in, he found Ryoko reclining on a bench on one side of the cell, and Aeka, quietly sobbing, with her legs curled up against her chest, on an identical bench on the other side of the cell. She was the first to notice Tenchi and his father. Unfolding herself, she stood and wiped the tears from her face. Ryoko noticed the change, and opened her eyes. She saw that Aeka was standing and took a look at the cell door. Seeing that Tenchi had arrived, she also got up. For what seemed like a very long time, Tenchi, Aeka, and Ryoko all stood facing one another, afraid to speak. Tenchi was the first to break the deadlock.

"I thought you weren't going to fight anymore."

"She called me a whore." Ryoko feistily answered.

"She ruined our, um..." Aeka responded.

"Oh, you wish." Ryoko immediately attacked her. "What would Tenchi want with a spoiled little rich-girl like you?"

Tenchi let his forehead thump against the iron bars while the imprisoned girls argued. Nobuyuki watched as his son repeatedly bruised his head against the bars while Ryoko and Aeka argued. Slowly, a small fire began to burn in his belly. He was a pretty easy-going guy. But the way the girls had been treating Tenchi of late was starting to wear on his nerves.

"Hey!" He yelled into the cell.

"What?" They both glared at him.

"You know, I never realized it. But you were both right."

Aeka and Ryoko both stood a little taller at the praise.

"He does deserve better than either of you."

The girls' jaws dropped.

"Come on, Tenchi." Nobuyuki led his son away without any resistance. "Let 'em rot for a while."

Aeka started crying again.

"Tenchi!" Ryoko called after him. "Tenchi, wait!"

For once, Tenchi decided to simply follow the advice his father was giving. Everything he had tried with the girls had apparently been in vain. Maybe a sterner lesson than what he could stomach was required.

"Don't leave!" She called, taking a hold on the cell door.

Tenchi stopped.

"Eh?" Nobuyuki stopped beside him.

"I'm sorry! Okay? Please, don't leave me!"

Something in they way Ryoko was pleading for his presence tugged at his heart.

"Dad, I can't." Tenchi whispered to his father.

"You think they've had enough?"

Tenchi looked at his father's face. Nobuyuki winked at him.

"Tenchi-i-i!Please, don't go! It's my fault! I did it! Blame me! Just... don't leave. Please?"

Ryoko's voice grew quieter as she continued to plead.

"Please?"

Unable to bear the sound of fear in Ryoko's voice any further, Tenchi turned around and went back. He looked into the cell again. Aeka was kneeling on the floor, crying into her open hands. Ryoko hung like a lifeless doll against the cell bars. She suddenly reared back and screamed for him at the top of her lungs.

**"TEN-N-N-N-CHI-I-I-I-I-I!"**

Tenchi's hands slapped against his ears to muffle the horrendous sound.

"You don't have to yell, Ryoko, I'm right here."

Ryoko's eyes snapped open and she slapped her hands against her mouth out of guilt for having screamed in his face. A moment later, she phased right through the bars and wrapped herself around his neck.

"I'm sorry!" She told him again, sniffling.

"I know. I know you're sorry." Tenchi reassured her by holding her for a few moments.

The officer watching them stood gaping.

"How... did... she...?"

"You let them out on my orders. Remember?" The station commander told him from the other side of the gate.

The officer quickly regained his composure when he saw his commanding officer and Katsuhito standing behind him.

"I did?" He asked.

"Yes, you did." His superior confirmed.

"Okay..."

The officer went to the cell and unlocked it to release the prisoners.

"Um... You're free to go. I think..."

Aeka did not even attempt to get to her feet.

The officer sighed, and tried to convince Tenchi to get his other girl-friend to exit the cell.

"Excuse, me. I don't meant to be rude, but,"

Ryoko casually backhanded him against the far wall for interrupting her moment with Tenchi. Nobuyuki, Katsuhito, and the commander all slapped a hand against their foreheads.

"You know," the commander mentioned, "I could run her in for that."

"Who would believe it." Nobuyuki pointed out to him.

Katsuhito cleared his throat most imperiously.

"A-hem! Aeka! Stop feeling sorry for yourself and stand up!"

"Eee!!" Aeka jumped up and immediately ceased her crying. She stood at absolute attention for three seconds before remembering she was no longer in the royal court. Her posture relaxed a bit, and she wiped her tears again with a loud sigh.

"Of...sniffle of course. Quite right."

She exited the cell and walked past Tenchi and Ryoko without a word.

"Okay, Ryoko. It's time to go home." Tenchi tried to disengage himself from Ryoko's grasp. She only tightened her grip.

"Are you going to let go?"

"Uhn-uh."

"You have to."

"No." Her grip tightened significantly.

"Erg! Okay! Okay! Take it easy!"

She relaxed a little bit. Tenchi thought about it for a moment, and realized there was only one option.

"Ryoko, if you don't let go, I'll have to carry you."

She did not so much as wiggle.

"All right. You asked for it." He carefully moved forward, while holding her. She cooperated by collapsing her legs. Tenchi knelt on one knee so he could get an arm under her legs. Once he had a good hold of her, he rolled back onto his foot from his knee and stood upright, hefting Ryoko into his arms.

"I'm sorry I scared you." Tenchi apologized for what had happened earlier.

"You made me cry again, you mean, old, block-head." She whispered.

Tenchi sighed. He knew what that meant.

The gate to the cell block clanked open, allowing those within to escape it's confines. Aeka went through, then stopped next to the prince of Jurai.

"I apologize for embarrassing you, Brother."

"Mmm. We'll talk about it later." He acknowledged. "The van's outside."

Aeka quickly strode through the station and out the front door. The rest of the family followed close behind. The police officers watched passively as the youngsters boarded Nobuyuki's van. Ryoko refused to release Tenchi until he insisted he would not let her sit in his lap because it was unsafe. As the strange family drove away, the older officer gave them some good advice.

"Drive carefully!"

"Good luck, Tenchi!"

"Hey!" The supervisor elbowed his subordinate in the ribs. "You're not supposed to say things like that."

"Yeah, well... He's gonna need it."

The commander watched the van disappear in the distance.

"An entire city block, wasn't it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Nobody'll believe that." He mumbled, turning back to the station. "What the hell am I gonna tell the chief?"

"Another gas explosion?" His subordinate offered.

"Looks like it."

As the kilometers swept by, the city lights gradually disappeared. It was darker out in the rural areas, and Ryoko clutched at Tenchi's arm. On his other side, Aeka also sat close, though the princess was not clutching at him the way she was.

Ryoko remembered vividly how God-awful panicked she had gotten when Tenchi had started to walk away, leaving her in a cold, dark, hole-in-the-wall with no one but a crying princess. She had tried to stay calm, but then the memories had come forth and she had panicked. She took a deep breath to banish the feeling, but on the way out, the breath stuck for a moment, then escaped as a gut wrenching sob. She buried her face against Tenchi's shoulder.

Aeka watched the silent play going on beside her out of the corner of her eye. She had seen the way people looked when they were frightened, scared, or terrified. Thanks to the woman two seats over, she had seen all three, in spades. Ironically enough, now she was seeing those very emotions from Ryoko. The girl was trying to hide it. But, as she lived the moment over again and again in her mind, she was obviously suffering.

Aeka knew the truth. She had started the fight by breaking one of the agreements she had made with Ryoko; not to call her vile names. Besides "monster", "whore" was one of the ones she had specifically mentioned. In return, Ryoko would not intentionally aggravate her. They had mutually agreed, for Tenchi's sake, to stop physically fighting. The little monster called "Guilt" was taking it's turn with Aeka, now. She sighed in resignation.

"Ryoko," she slowly began, "I... apologize. For what I said. It was crude and uncalled for. You don't deserve that."

The men's jaws dropped.

"I'm sorry for fighting." Ryoko instantly replied.

_"As long as I'm at it..."_ She had one more apology to give.

"Tenchi, I'm sorry for, um, ruining your... date. I guess... if... you really want to..." her voice became little more than a whisper, "you can." 

The van suddenly swerved to the right, forcing everybody to the left.

"Eyes on the road, Nobuyuki!" Tenchi's grandfather scolded the driver.

"Sorry about that. I thought I saw a squirrel run across the road."

"It must have been a very fast squirrel for me not to see it."

"Heh-heh. I guess so."

But the damage was already done. The sudden movement had crushed the passengers against each other. As Ryoko felt herself being thrown against Tenchi, she slipped her fingers between his and held tight. At the same time, Aeka and Tenchi's hands brushed against each other. Whether it was out of fear, love, or sheer folly, their fingers also intertwined. She squeezed tightly, giving him another hint of the feelings she had kept hidden for so long. The vehicle resumed it's normal course, and Tenchi realized he was holding two girls' hands at the same time!

_"What is going on?"_

The doorbell rang. The soap opera the girls were watching happened to be in commercial break at the time, so, Mihoshi, being the nice young woman that she is, decided to answer it. For once, she did not trip over the ledge and fall through the door. She opened the door and saw Zak standing before the doorway in a fine tuxedo, complete with a white bow-tie.

"Oh, my goodness! Don't you look handsome!" She exclaimed when she saw who had come calling.

"Hey, what can I say? I'm gifted. Is Ryoko home?"

"Sure she is! Come in, please!" She went running for her friend.

"Ryoko! Come here! You have to see this!"

"Forget it! It's starting again."

"Oh, you're right!" Mihoshi sat down, completely forgetting about their guest.

Zak felt a very large teardrop roll down the side of his face. (_Sorry! I don't usually do sight gags. But I just couldn't resist! D.)_

He invited himself into the main room and took a peek at what they were watching.

_"Oh, dear, God. Soap operas."_

"What's on?" He boldly asked.

Six heads spun around, cracking simultaneously. Six hands went to six necks, and six throats uttered the same sound.

"Uhhooo..."

"Um, is everybody okay?"

"No..." Six voices spoke in unison.

"Gee, tough crowd."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Ryoko verbally blasted him.

"Well! Since you asked... I have something better than soaps!"

"Huh?" Six people questioned.

"Um, right. I guess that wasn't very clear. Let me try again." He cleared his throat.

"Ahem! I have something in my pocket that is ten times better than soap operas!"

Five females laughed at him. The lone male, Tenchi, (how did the girls get him to watch soaps?), asked about it.

"Like what?"

Zak whipped out a pair of tickets.

"I have two tickets to a REAL opera!"

"Oh, joy." Ryoko mocked his good humor.

"I didn't know they had operas on Earth!" Sasami told him, ignorant of the passionate kiss occurring on the television.

"Hey, hey! Sasami!" Ryoko tried to regain her attention. "Look! They're kissing!"

The little girl's head spun back to face front. She got only a glimpse of the action before Aeka's hand covered her eyes.

"Hey!"

"You are quite right, Zakaraia. An opera is an order of magnitude better than any television program. If I may be so bold, why would you squander such an excellent performance on someone with no taste what-so-ever?"

"She's right. I can't taste a thing." Ryoko flipped back without thinking.

"Not that kind of taste, you dullard. A taste for an aesthetically pleasing performance!"

"Sounds serious. Is it contagious?"

"Erg." Aeka growled. "See what I mean?"

"Well. It seems my intentions are pretty much clear." He knelt down between Ryoko and Tenchi.

"What do you say, Ryoko? Want to go with me?"

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"Three reasons: First, I don't like you. Second, I already have a boyfriend."

"Excuse me..." Both Aeka and Tenchi tried to clarify her assumption.

"Third," she continued without acknowledging them, "it sounds completely and totally stupid! Why would I want to go watch people sing and dance all night?"

"Because it's a one time performance by a theatre troop all the way from London. And, they're doing The Phantom of the Opera."

Tenchi's head spun around, this time without cracking.

"You got tickets to that?"

"Sure did!"

Washu was busily flipping through a theatre review pamphlet.

"I'm impressed." Tenchi continued. "I heard those tickets are really hard to get. Not to mention expensive."

"Well, I'm still owed a favor here and there. The theatre director's sound system crashed last week, and he needed it fixed ASAP. I seem to have a reputation! The tickets are my payment. Well, since Ryoko doesn't want to go, is there any other pretty lady that would like to?"

Aeka almost jumped at the chance. She loved operas and went to them whenever possible back on Jurai. It had been years since the last time she had seen one. Only one thing kept her from accepting. Tenchi. He was sitting right between her and Ryoko, with a strange look on his face. One she could not quite place.

"What? Nobody?"

Silence. Zak lifted his right arm and made a show of sniffing his armpit.

"No, I don't think I smell."

There were a couple of chuckles from the group. Even Ryoko snickered at that one.

"Wow!" Washu suddenly exclaimed. She had apparently found the listing she was looking for. "This is right up your alley, Ryoko! You should go."

"No!" Ryoko reinforced her reluctance to attend.

"Let's see..." Washu began reading from the summary. "Some musical genius who lives in the sewer beneath the Paris Opera House teaches a girl how to sing, then falls in love with her! Sounds juicy! Oh, wait! It gets better! Then, she falls in love with an old friend, and abandons her teacher! He throws a fit and starts terrorizing the opera house!"

Despite her earlier protestations, Ryoko found herself listening. It did sound like a soap opera. She thought about the situation for a couple of seconds and came up with an idea.

"I'll tell you what." She gave her full attention to Zak. "I'll go, if you give the other ticket to Tenchi so he can go with me."

"What are you, crazy?" Zak asked her. "No offense against Tenchi, but I'm not in the habit of giving away tickets so girls I like can go out with somebody else."

Tenchi scratched the back of his head.

"None taken." Tenchi finally decided to give his input on the matter. "But, Ryoko, I think you should go."

"What?"

Everyone looked at Tenchi in shock, especially Ryoko.

"But, why?" She asked him.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. That show may never come back to Japan, ever. I know I'd go if I had the chance. I really don't, um, mind... if you go."

There it was. Tenchi was telling her to go out with someone else. Ryoko hung her head in defeat.

"There you have it!" Zak crowed. "Even Tenchi says it's okay. Come on, Ryoko. I know you'll like it. It's only a couple of hours. If you don't, then you can go home."

Staring down at the floor in shock, her response came out as an almost inaudible whisper.

"All right."

Everyone in the room collectively gasped. Zak looked at her in surprise.

"Really?"

Ryoko's face twisted into a look of annoyance.

"I said, 'All right', didn't I? And one more thing; this is not a date!"

"Fine by me." Zak agreed. "We're just two friends going to a show together."

Ryoko quickly got up and took the long way around the sofa, making sure to keep her back to the rest of the family so she would not have to meet their stares. On the way past Zak, she grabbed him by the bow-tie and hauled him towards the door.

"If you try anything, I'll cut your liver out with a spoon."

"Why a spoon? Why not a knife or a sword?"

"Because it hurts more, you idiot!"

Tenchi forced himself not to watch as Ryoko left with Zak. For some reason, he felt like he had done something wrong.

"Oh, no!" Mihoshi suddenly exclaimed, drawing everyone's attention. "We missed the show! Now what are we going to do?"

"Take a bath." Aeka answered, getting to her feet.

"Conduct experiments." Washu said.

"Get a snack." Sasami also got to her feet.

"Miya!" Ryo-o-ki followed her towards the kitchen.

"Practice with Grandpa." Tenchi rose last.

Somehow, on his way to his room to retrieve the small sword with great power, Tenchi got lost. He ended-up on the roof. Having that ladder on the balcony was turning out to be quite handy. It was quiet on the roof, with no one else around.

_"I'm such a loser."_

Ryoko looked down from her place on the first balcony as the orchestra started.

"What the hell is that crap?"

"Real instruments."

"No shit, Sherlock. What kind of music is that supposed to be?"

"Um... Phantom of the Opera music, I guess."

"Uh-huh. Wake me up when it's over." She told him, slumping down in her seat to take a nap.

For quite a while, Ryoko ignored the performance. She even started lightly snoring. It was not until a booming tenor voice echoed throughout the hall that she actually began paying attention.

"Insolent boy, the slave of fashion, basking in your... glory!"

"Ignorant fool, this brave young suitor, sharing in my... triumph!"

_"He's jealous!"_ She realized, smirking. _"Typical."_

The young female lead, Christine, called for her "teacher", begging him to show himself.

_"Hmph. I'll bet he's all grizzled and old."_

The Phantom, as Ryoko supposed him to be, faded into view in the full-length mirror on stage. He wore dark clothes and a misshapen white mask covered the left side of his face.

_"What a weird mask."_

Ryoko almost laughed out loud when the Phantom invited Christine to follow him into his world, and she agreed.

_"Dumb-ass! You asked for it."_

For five minutes, Christine and The Phantom sang together as they descended into the depths of the catacombs beneath the Paris Opera House. Ryoko began to smile.

_"Welcome to my world."_

For the next five minutes, The Phantom sang alone, obviously courting the young woman with his voice.

_"That's it. Charm her. Woo her. Show her you have feelings, too."_

The scene ended, and the scenery was quickly changed to represent the more "civilized" world. The new owners of the opera house were in a tizzy over the loss of all their star performers. Ryoko giggled and snickered in mirth at their discomfiture. When several of the performers began singing overlapping parts that she could not keep track of, she quickly got annoyed.

Soon, The Phantom made his presence known once more. He insisted Christine be cast as the lead in the next performance, and the old star, Carlotta, be cast in a silent role. Ryoko actually cackled at that.

"Hah!"

Zak looked over at her and smiled.

"What are you looking at?" She asked.

"I think she likes it."

"The Phantom's cool. The rest of them suck."

"Whatever you say." Zak returned his attention to the opera.

The multitude of voices completed their number. The next scene was of the aforementioned performance. The owners, Andre and Firmin, had set up a trap for The Phantom.

_"He's gonna eat you alive!"_

Sure enough, The Phantom snuck something into Carlotta's water. Ryoko tried desperately to contain herself.

_"Oh, yeah. This is gonna be cool."_

Right in the middle of Carlotta's big number, her voice gives out. Ryoko laughed again. She was not the only one in the audience who was amused.

"Ha, ha! Serves you right!"

The scene came to an abrupt halt and the curtain closed. The master of ceremonies for the opera within an opera came out and made a great show of apologizing, and promised the show would go on. He left, and the curtain rose, once more.

Several ballet dancers pranced around, following the music. The scenes played themselves out for a while, until Carlotta reappeared. This time Christine was also on stage, but in the silent role specified for Carlotta! Ryoko's fangs began to show.

_"Oh, man! He's gonna be pissed."_

Suddenly, a man screamed. A dark shadow fell behind the backdrop scenery and stopped half-way down. A man was being hanged in the background. Ryoko gawked at the shadow as the curtain closed again. Once more, the master of ceremonies came out and profusely apologized for the grotesque sight. He assured the audience that the performance would still continue after a short intermission.

_"You idiot! If he's willing to kill once, what makes you think he won't do it again?"_

The scene went dark, and changed to an exterior view of the opera house. Raoul, the young man whom Christine was seeing, invited her to leave Paris, and she accepted.

_"You jerk."_ Ryoko cursed Raoul.

The Phantom appeared once more. This time, he knew he had lost. He sang of Christine's betrayal and lamented his loss. With a final cry of pain, he vowed revenge. The scene reverted to the interior of the opera house. The master of ceremonies explained they would continue at the beginning of the second act.

_"How do they change scenes so fast?"_

They were barely five seconds into the new act, when the Phantom's voice echoed from the rafters. A light shown upon the chandelier, revealing the black-clad figure. He pronounced doom upon the opera house and all who were in attendance, then disappeared without warning. A moment later, his voice was heard again from one corner of the theatre, then another, and another, then from the stage, and then the ceiling. Ryoko's head whipped back and forth, trying to follow the voice. For a moment, there was silence.

Then the chandelier above the audience, the real audience, fell. A few people yelled in fright. Ryoko knew better. She could have stopped it, but this was a performance. She wanted to see what would happen. The chandelier suddenly began to glide towards the stage and came to a rough, but nondestructive stop on stage.

_"Hah! Put some fear in their hearts!"_

The main curtain on stage closed and the lights came up, signaling the end of the first act.

"That's it?" Ryoko asked with disappointment, thinking the performance was over.

"Nope. There's more after the intermission." Zak explained. "You want a drink or something?"

"I could use a stiff drink."

"I don't know if they have anything like that." Zak got to his feet. "But I'll see what I can do. Back in a few." He went off in search of refreshments.

Ryoko let her thoughts wander for several minutes until Zak returned. She thought of little things, and bigger things. She thought of why Tenchi had told her to go out with Zak.

"_Maybe he's still mad about that fight last week. I guess I really blew it."_

"Hey." Zak greeted her as he returned. "Sorry. There's no food or drink allowed in the auditorium. But, I got you this, instead." He handed her a rolled up tube of paper.

"Huh?" She looked at it, suspicious.

"It's a poster. Go ahead and open it up."

Out of curiosity, Ryoko took the tube and unrolled it. It was an advertisement poster for the show they were attending with a couple dozen signatures on it.

"I got the entire cast to sign it."

"All of them?"

"Yup. I went to The Phantom first because I know he's your favorite."

"And just what am I supposed to do with this?"

"Oh, I don't know. Put it on your wall?" Zak sarcastically suggested.

"Tsk." Ryoko snorted at his lame humor. She rolled the poster back up and slid it between the seats.

Zak took his seat next to her, and reclined as far back as his legs would allow.

"You know, I was kind of surprised that Tenchi said you could go with me."

Ryoko's gaze fell to the back of the seat in front of her.

"Me, too." She muttered.

"I thought he liked you more than that."

"Tenchi does too like me."

"Well, sure he does. But I don't think he likes you the way I like you."

"Yes, he does!"

"I don't know..."

Ryoko turned her full attention to Zak. She stabbed her pointer finger into his chest.

"Tenchi is my man, and we love each other. There is nothing you can do about it."

Zak heaved a great sigh of resignation.

"Yeah. I guess I'm just being selfish. Sorry. But, I can't help it." He sat up straighter, half-turning to face her.

"Your exciting and beautiful. I mean, look at you!" He gestured with open hands at Ryoko. "You're..."

Zak sighed again, this time with longing. He leaned close to Ryoko. She leaned back, trying to keep more distance between them.

"You're everything I've ever wanted in a woman."

Zak's statement caught Ryoko completely off-guard. She stared at him in shock, unable to remember anyone ever telling her that. Her heart raced as she became more aware of his proximity to her.

"Get away from me."

To her relief, Zak withdrew from her personal space.

"I just wanted to tell you that." He said as the music for the second act began.

Ryoko faced forward to avoid Zak's intense scrutiny. Despite no longer being stared at, her heart continued to race for several minutes, even into the first act.

The entire cast was assembled for a massive masquerade ball on stage. Ryoko could not help noticing how bright and festive their outfits were.

_"A party. Okay. That's cool."_

Raoul and Christine reappeared, and revealed they were now engaged.

_"What the hell are you marrying that jerk for?"_

Shortly thereafter, The Phantom also reappeared, ruining the festive occasion which was being held in honor of his year-long absence.

_"You thought you could get away, Raoul? Heh. He loves her. He will NEVER quit. I sure as hell won't."_

The Phantom presented the owners with a new opera he personally had written, and demanded it be performed with Christine in the lead role. The owners had no choice but to obey.

Darkly fascinated, Ryoko watched as, in the next scene, The Phantom tried once more to seduce Christine in a cemetery; at her father's grave, no less. He was moments away from victory when Raoul arrived just in time to save the girl. The Phantom actually shot fireballs at Raoul as he took Christine away.

_"Get him! Torch his ass! He's just like Aeka, always getting in the way!"_

The final opera on stage began. It seemed to be a rather twisted comic look at lust versus love. The leads were Christine and Piangi, the tenor who often worked beside Carlotta. From the action on stage, Ryoko supposed the two were interested in each other.

The moment came when they were finally alone. They sang a duet that talked about, and was probably entitled, The Point of No Return. Christine finally reached forward to reveal the strange person who's face was hidden by a hood. She pulled the hood back, and gasped in shock. Her secret admirer was none other than The Phantom.

_"You go! But, where's the other guy?"_

They continued to sing. A few moments later, Christine went a step further. As The Phantom was finishing his part, she reached up again and ripped away his mask. She gasped again, this time in true horror. The Phantom's face was horribly disfigured and scarred.

_"Oh, man..."_

Suddenly self-conscious, Ryoko found she was poking at her bicuspids (fangs) with her tongue. The Phantom sang a few tender words to Christine.

"Say you'll share with me, one love, one lifetime."

"Anywhere you go, let me go, too."

"Christine, that's all I ask of..."

Suddenly they dropped through a trap door. Ryoko sat bolt upright so she could see everything that was going on. One of the dancing girls pulled back a drape from one of the prop buildings and promptly screamed her lungs out when she saw the body of the normal singer with a dagger sticking out of his chest.

_"They'll chase him, now."_

Sure enough, as The Phantom escaped with his captive, the sound of the other cast members could be heard in the background, singing of tracking him down. The Phantom sang the entire time as he brought Christine to his lair. When they arrived, Christine asked him of his intentions, thinking he intended to use her body for his pleasure. The Phantom dispelled that idea when he revealed that whatever had scarred his face also made him incapable of such pleasures.

"That fate which condemns me to wallow in blood,"

"has also denied me the joys of the flesh."

The Phantom continued on, allowing the audience a very short, but very close look at his deepest, darkest feelings.

"This face, the infection which poisons our love..."

"This face which earned a mother's fear and loathing..."

"A mask... my first... unfeeling scrap of clothing."

_"Nobody deserves to be treated like that."_

Ryoko watched on in stunned silence until Raoul found his way to the lair. There was a brief number where all three sang together. Then, when Raoul demanded he be allowed to see Christine, The Phantom permitted him to enter.

_"It's a trap!"_ Ryoko silently guessed.

The Phantom carefully snuck up behind Raoul as he and Christine cuddled, oblivious to what was going on around them. He quickly slipped a noose around the younger man's neck and hoisted him up to his tip-toes.

_"Wow. He's **really **serious, now."_

The Phantom quickly explained to Christine that, if she wanted to save her lover, she would have to stay in the catacombs with him. If she chose otherwise, Raoul would die.

_"She has to pick him. She has to!"_

Christine hurled a few choice insults at The Phantom. He quickly lost patience, and told her to choose, or Raoul would die, regardless.

_"Come on! Pick, you dumb broad! If you stay, you save Raoul, (why you would want to do that, I don't know), and The Phantom finds love!"_

Surprise, surprise, Christine chose to stay with The Phantom. She did so in grand style, too. She walked right up to him and kissed him on the lips, twice! Ryoko cracked an incredibly huge smile.

_"Yes, yes, YES!"_

As agreed, The Phantom freed Raoul. But his next action threw Ryoko for a loop. He made both of them leave, together, chasing them away with a horribly pained screech.

**"Go now, and LEAVE ME!"**

Ryoko stared at The Phantom in complete confusion.

_"Why? She chose him. Why did he make her leave?"_

The Phantom wandered around in a daze for several seconds until finding a music box. Eerily, it played the same music which had been playing at the beginning of the act. He quietly sang of the masquerade and touched his face.

_"That's not fair! Don't abandon him!"_

Ryoko leaned further forward when Christine suddenly returned a moment later.

_"She came back!"_

The happy moment lasted only a moment. Christine returned the ring The Phantom had offered her. He had only one thing left to say.

"Christine, I love you..."

Despite The Phantom's claim, Christine still left.

_"You bitch! He loves you! How can you leave him alone? In a cold, dark sewer..."_

The Phantom sat in a large chair and covered himself with a cloth. The spot light narrowed to include only the back of the stage. One of the dancing girls arrived and looked around the stage. She found the chair, and pulled the cloth away, revealing nothing but The Phantom's mask. The lights dimmed out.

There was silence for a moment, then the audience erupted in applause and cheers. Ryoko sat on the edge of her seat, tears streaming down her face. She suddenly shot to her feet and yelled across the auditorium.

**"THAT'S NOT FAIR!"**

Zak had been watching her the entire time, and tried to settle her a bit.

"Take it easy. It's just a show."

Ryoko whirled on him and yelled right in his face.

"You asshole! You did that on purpose! I'm never going out with you again!" She snatched the poster from between the seats and disappeared with a flash of white light, blinding everyone around for several seconds.

"Tough break." Someone nearby told him, blind to the fact that Ryoko had just teleported in front of an audience of over four hundred.

"Naw. I've never seen her show so much emotion before." He rubbed the effects of his flash-blindness away. "Besides, I think she's starting to like me."

Ryoko teleported all the way back to the Masaki house. She did not bother to fly to her room. She needed to vent. The front door slid open easily enough. She slammed it closed with terrific force, shattering the door frame. Everyone in the house, even the ones asleep, jumped in surprise.

"Ryoko must be home." Tenchi guessed from his room.

As the infuriated woman made her way across the floor, she was very glad when Aeka greeted her.

"Good evening, Miss Ryoko. How was the show?"

"It sucked!" Ryoko screeched at Aeka. "I'm never going to another opera as long as I live!" Thus relieved, Ryoko flew up to her room.

Aeka looked at her in disgust.

"Well, I never!"

The poster in Ryoko's hand immediately found its way to her "Junk-Wall" along with the other junk. She was just putting the last pin in when she noticed something hand-written in the corner. Looking closely, she saw it was from Zak.

"Thanks for going out with me. I'm having a great time. Stop by or call anytime you want. -Zak-"

Just below that was his address and phone number, along with a winking smiley-face.

_"You big, stupid, dumb, fool! What makes you think I'd ever go out with you again?"_

A voice echoed in her head.

_"Because you're a total liar, and you loved every minute of it."_

She spun around. There was no one behind her.

"Who **is** that?"

There was no answer. Turning back to the half-hung poster, Ryoko tried to put the voice, and her date, out of her mind. But the voices of the performers, and the unknown voice, would not go away. But, most of all, Zak's confession of interest stuck in her mind. Her chest heaved and her heart pounded as she mentally reviewed the experience.

_"'You're everything I've ever wanted in a woman.'"_

She felt a slight flush come over her face.

_"I don't understand. I thought only Tenchi could make me feel this way."_

END CHAPTER 2.

AFTERWORD: My, oh, my, oh, my! Tenchi and Aeka went on a date, and now Ryoko's okay with it. I told you I would do something about how close Tenchi and Ryoko were getting. I intentionally left out the fight scene in town. I think it works pretty well that way.

The whole scene of the opera is truly The Phantom of The Opera. I had the incredible privilege of attending the performance in Montreal, Quebec, Canada several years ago. I recommend it to everyone, along with any other Andrew Lloyd Weber production. I did the piece because I really thought Ryoko would identify with The Phantom, and that the performance would bring out her true feelings. My apologies if I have misremembered any of the scenes. Visit the official website at http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com.


	10. Ambition

****

INVASION Volume 2, Part 3: Ambition.

DISCLAIMER: Tenchi Muyo! is copyright AIC/Pioneer, LDC. I claim no rights to the characters or story. I'm only doing this because I love the whole series and enjoy writing stories about the characters. I only ask that no changes be made to this story, as it took me a great deal of time to write it.

FOREWORD: Originally, this chapter was going to take place on Valentine's Day, which also happens to be Sasami's birthday. However, the timing wasn't right with Interlude 2. Also, I wanted some outdoor scenes, later.

Fair warning! There is a fairly lemony scene towards the end. However, it doesn't violate the standards of the 'R' rating. Go to the website http://www.mpaa.org/movieratings/about/index/htm for more information.

Also, I have a feeling I'm going to get some hate mail from Ryoko fans out there. Sorry. I promise I'll make up for it later. This whole volume is about "what would it take", after all. 

BEGIN CHAPTER 3.

When the doorbell rang late in the afternoon of the Friday Zak was due to return from a week-long seminar in Tokyo, Tenchi began to worry. He was beginning to think of the doorbell as the "Gong of Doom". Every time it rang, something weird would happen. Dreading the unasked-for visitor, he excused himself to answer the door.

"Hello?"

A young man in the uniform of a local delivery service held a large bouquet of red roses and a heart-shaped box of candies out to Tenchi.

"Good afternoon, sir. I have a delivery for Miss Ryoko."

Somewhat beside himself, Tenchi took the delivery.

"Uh, sure."

"Sorry, about this, but could you sign for them? We just need verification that the delivery was made to the proper address."

Tenchi accepted the clipboard and pen. He signed his name in the proper location, then handed it back. In return, he received for Ryoko one dozen red roses and a box of chocolates.

"Thank you, sir, and have a pleasant day." The delivery boy bowed politely, then left.

Tenchi turned from the door. He was trying to decide just how he was going to explain this to everyone when Sasami came around the corner.

"Come on, Tenchi. You're --" She stopped in mid-sentence. "Wow! Are those for me?"

Things got worse when Aeka joined her sister.

"Lord Tenchi, ah--" Aeka did the same double-take as Sasami had. "My, how lovely." She quickly joined Tenchi to get a closer look. "Who are they for, Lord Tenchi?"

"Ryoko." Tenchi answered.

"Ryoko?!" Aeka asked, astounded.

Things went from bad to worse when Ryoko heard her name.

"What?" The flippant girl asked as she entered the hall via the dividing wall. "What's for me?" She caught sight of Tenchi holding a large bouquet of roses and a box of chocolates.

"Tenchi-i-i!" Delighted and completely mistaken as to their source, Ryoko caught Tenchi in a huge embrace, crushing the flowers between the two of them.

"Ouch!" Tenchi complained. "Sharp thorns!"

Ryoko released him and snatched the gifts from Tenchi's grasp with a delighted giggle.

"This is preposterous!" Aeka loudly complained. "Lord Tenchi, tell her! Tell her they're not from you!"

"Aeka's right. They're not from me."

Ryoko looked at him. Aeka looked at him. Sasami looked at him.

"They're not?" The three of them said together.

"No. Someone just had them delivered."

Sasami scratched her head.

"Then who are they from?"

"Read the card." Tenchi suggested. The girls quickly found the card which was hidden among the flowers. Ryoko tried to open it, but her hands were full. Aeka quickly grew tired of her fumbling and snatched the card away.

"Give me that." She pulled the card out and quickly read it. She began to giggle. The giggle soon turned into an hysterical laugh.

"Hee-hee-hee! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Ah-hah-hah-hah! Oh, that's rich!"

"Come on, show me!" Ryoko leaned over to read the card herself. Her face betrayed no emotion. She turned and presented the gifts to Sasami.

"Happy birthday."

"But, my birthday was four months ago." Sasami pointed out.

"So? They're mine and I can do whatever I want with 'em. So, now I'm giving them to you."

Aeka ignored the gift giving and stuffed the card into the bouquet before going back into the main room, laughing all the way. Tenchi was completely confused. Aeka seemed entirely too entertained, and Ryoko was actually giving away candy!

"Ryoko, what's going on?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing. I, uh, forgot a present on Sasami's birthday. So, now I'm making up for it. Aren't I nice?"

Now Tenchi was getting suspicious. Why would Ryoko not tell him what it meant? Or more importantly, who it was from?

"So, who's it from?"

"Nobody important." Ryoko directed her attention to Sasami. "Here. I'll open them for you." She pulled the top from the box. Sasami reached into the box and pulled out a chocolate. She quickly popped it into her mouth.

"Good?" Ryoko asked. Sasami answered once she was finished chewing.

"Very."

"Can I have one?"

"Sure. Would you like one, Tenchi?"

Tenchi started to decline, but then changed his mind. As he leaned over the inspect the chocolate, he took a surreptitious look at the card which Aeka had set back in amongst the flowers. He could just make out the kana within, which, when pronounced, would sound out the name "Zakaraia".

Tenchi took one of the chocolates, then quickly went back into the main room. He ignored Aeka's retelling of the brief adventure to examine the chocolate he held in his hand. It was round and bulbous, the way a chocolate should be. There was nothing suspicious about it. He just could not shake the feeling that something was wrong.

_"Damn."_ Tenchi popped the candy into his mouth.

Ryoko arrived at Zak's apartment. She had had no intention of ever coming here, but her curiosity about the flowers and candy demanded satisfaction. He had given her his address and phone number last week, along with an open invitation to come see him whenever she wanted. The poster with the information had gotten stuck to her "Junk-Wall", along with all the other junk. Now she was glad she had not thrown it out. She could interrogate Zak concerning the gifts. Without concern for what may be going on inside, Ryoko phased through the door. She floated in to find Zak sitting on the floor, busily at work on someone's stereo. A mischievous grin appeared on her face.

"Hey!" She shouted.

Zak dropped his test probe into the stereo, resulting in a loud snap and a visible spark. He sighed, looking woefully at the equipment.

"Ryoko, your timing is... amazing."

"Is that so?"

"Man, they're gonna be pissed."

"Yeah, well. Tough luck. I've got a question."

Zak leaned back and rotated around on his posterior so he could face Ryoko.

"Why, hello, Ryoko! I'm so pleased to see you. Won't you come in?"

"Smart-ass. What's up with the flowers and chocolate?"

"I just got back from Tokyo and I wanted to let you know I was home." He looked at Ryoko as if he were completely innocent of any wrong-doing.

"Am I supposed to be impressed?" Ryoko asked.

"Mmm, no. I was just trying to get your attention. To tell you the truth," he continued, "I had picked out something a little more, ah... interesting. But as I was wrapping it, I decided it might be a little embarrassing if you opened it in front of everyone."

"Oh, please. Nothing embarrasses me."

"Oh, really?" Zak gave her a sly grin. "Then why don't you open that box", he pointed to a flat box on the kitchenette counter, "over there."

Ryoko looked to the left, where he was pointing. The box was plainly evident. She had no intention of accepting any gifts from Zak, but her curiosity was killing her.

_"I wish he would quit doing this stuff. Well, it can't hurt to look."_

She pulled the top off and reached into the box. Within the traditional gauzy paper (why do they always wrap clothing in this stuff?), was a very skimpy outfit. It was exactly the sort of thing she would wear if she were trying to seduce Tenchi. She held it out at Zak like a rag.

"What the hell is this?"

"A very sexy outfit."

"Duh. Why did you get it for me?"

"Maybe I'd like to see you in it."

"Yeah, right. More like you'd like to see me out of it."

"Only if I get to take it off."

Ryoko looked at Zak in surprise. This was different. He had never come right out and said he wanted her. However, his statement gave Ryoko a much better idea. She let her mouth widen into a knowing smile.

"How about if I put this on and show myself to Tenchi, instead?"

Zak had an answer ready for her.

"Go ahead. But, I don't think it'll work."

"Bull. Tenchi won't be able to resist me."

"He's resisted you for quite some time, as I understand it."

"That's because I haven't been trying very hard."

"Well, if that's the case, then you're right. He won't be able to resist. I'm having a hard enough time as it is."

Ryoko took a long, thoughtful look at the article of lingerie.

"Where's the mirror?" She asked, eyeing the outfit in her hand.

"In there." Zak pointed to the other room.

Ryoko zipped inside to try it on. Zak noticed she had left the garment's accessories behind in her hasty excitement. He got up to bring the remaining items to her. Ryoko's voice came from the other room.

"It's all right, but there's something missing."

Zak made his way to the doorway and, politely looking towards the other end of the room, he held one of the accessories, a slip of an undergarment, out to his side. Ryoko saw the piece of clothing and took a short flight to retrieve it, heedless of her lack of modesty. He snatched it out of her reach and dropped it in the box.

"The rest is inside."

Ryoko pulled the box from Zak's grasp with equal zest. She promptly dumped the contents on the couch. Gauze paper went everywhere as she found what she was looking for. The panties went on first, followed by the stockings. Although, leggings might be a more appropriate word to describe them. The whole thing was red leather with grey clips that held the leggings up in the front. The body portion started at mid-hip and went up just high enough to cover her breasts. The front was completely open with only a single clip holding it together just above the panty-line. There was only one problem.

"It shows too much up top. Tenchi won't like it."

"The article I read says if you pull the top part over your, ah... well, there's a suction cup at the end and if you put it right, um... in the middle, you know..."

"On my nipples." Ryoko bluntly clarified.

"Right." Zak smiled broadly. Ryoko's open honesty about all things female never failed to turn him on.

"It's supposed to stay."

Ryoko looked down at the material. There was indeed a suction-cup looking place at the top-inside corner of each side. She licked her thumb and wet the cups. After applying some pressure to them, Ryoko found they did indeed stay put.

She turned back to the mirror to inspect herself. It showed everything that needed to be shown without revealing too much. As an added bonus, she liked wearing it. The lay of the material was right where she liked it: on the sides, hips, and breasts. The open front would let her press herself against Tenchi without anything getting between them. She found herself getting turned on just thinking about showing herself to Tenchi like this. Arcing her back, she turned sideways and put her arms behind her head.

"The back's pretty plain. Hmm..." A smile starting working it's way onto her face again.

To Zak's surprise, he watched a tail sprout from Ryoko's back-side. It started out skin-colored and quickly grew to extend almost to the ceiling. Ryoko watched the tail as it rapidly shifted colors. She finally settled on the same grey as the clips on the outfit.

"Hmm..." The tail shifted again. This time it became segmented and mechanical looking. The end terminated in a double-sized segment with a large red disc inset.

"Now that's what I'm talking about." Ryoko admired herself in the mirror.

"I like your tail." Zak informed her. Absent-mindedly, Ryoko answered his complement.

"Uh-huh."

"Both of them."

Ryoko looked over her shoulder at him.

"You're stupid to get me something like this. It'll only help me with Tenchi."

"If that's what you want."

"You're weird."

"You should talk." He shot back. Ryoko disappeared, leaving only her trademark growl. Zak smiled to himself when he noticed she had left her clothes behind in her haste to seduce Tenchi.

_"I knew she'd like it."_

Tenchi closed his bedroom door, shutting out the noise from downstairs. He did not bother to turn on the light. There was still enough daylight for him to find his way around his room.

He and Aeka were getting along much better than before. Her suggestion to apply to the Galaxy Academy had really taken with him. He greatly appreciated what she had done for his state of mind by giving him the idea. Final exams were starting next week, and he was greatly looking forward to a change in his living arrangements once he graduated.

Ryoko, on the other hand, was as much of an enigma as ever. She still claimed not to be interested in Zak, even though she greeted him with more civility every time he came by to see her. It was painfully obvious Zak had fallen for her. Tenchi regretted telling Ryoko he did not mind her going out with him. At the time, he had wanted to return the favor she had given him by saying she did not mind if he went out with Aeka. But, it was too late now. Besides, she seemed pretty happy with Zak. At least she would have someone to take care of her if he left for the Academy.

It was odd, though, how everything had just suddenly fallen together with so little effort. He had applied to the academy knowing full-well it was the only place he could get into with so little financial help available to him. In all likelihood, he would attend. Wasting away at his grandfather's shrine was not his idea of a fulfilling life.

_"I guess I've pretty much made up my mind. Still, it'll feel weird not having the girls around."_

Tenchi sat on the edge of his bed. His socks fell to the floor. Soon they were followed by his shirt and pants. A huge yawn overtook him, verifying his need for rest. He fell back onto the bed. For some reason, the bed seemed very lumpy.

_"Not again."_ Tenchi knew what the lump was. It was just like the first time Ryoko had lain in his bed.

Tenchi stood and turned around. He grasped the corner of his quilt and threw it off the bed, intending to remind Ryoko, once again, that she was forbidden from sleeping in his bed. The admonishment Tenchi had been considering quickly fled his mind when he saw what Ryoko was wearing. He turned away.

"I've been waiting for you, Tenchi." Ryoko purred, seductively.

"Uhh..."

"I wore this just for you. Do you like it?"

"Ryoko, you... uhh, shouldn't... I mean... you aren't, um... supposed to do that."

"Do what, Tenchi?"

"Make..." He changed his mind at the last minute. "You can't sleep there."

"I wasn't planning on sleeping."

Gulp.

"Ryoko, I want you to go back to your own room."

Ryoko did not answer. Instead, she rose from her place of repose and stood behind Tenchi. She tried to wrap her arms around his waist, but he caught her hands before they could get all the way around him.

"Don't."

Ryoko snaked her tail around him. The tip waved slowly in front of his face.

"Do you like my tail?"

"Is that what that is?" Tenchi watched it move back and forth. He did not seem particularly interested in her tail, so she tried to get her arms around him again.

"Ryoko, stop it."

Her lips found Tenchi's neck.

"Cut it out!" Tenchi pulled her arms apart and stepped further away. "Please, Ryoko. I'm asking nicely. Go sleep in your own room."

"Tenchi..." Ryoko uttered his name in a low and seductive tone that left no doubt as to her purpose tonight. She was not feeling particularly patient or indulgent after waiting all evening for Tenchi to come to bed. She had been thinking about what she would do to get Tenchi interested and how she would react to his responses. In addition, the outfit she was wearing made her feel very sexual. She was eager for his touch. Waiting was not in the plan tonight. Unfortunately, Tenchi was playing hard-to-get. When she teleported in front of him, he turned away again.

"Ryoko, I've told you before. This is my room. If you want to come in, knock first. No coming in unannounced and no sleeping in my bed."

"Don't you like my outfit? I wore it just for you."

"It's very nice." He told her.

"You didn't even look."

"I saw it."

"Tenchi, I want you to look at me."

Something in Ryoko's voice told Tenchi he should comply. But her outfit was so scanty, he was embarrassed to do so. He was not used to seeing things like that.

"I can't."

Ryoko's question was barely a whisper.

"Why?"

"I don't like it when you dress like that."

A small fissure opened in Ryoko's heart. Through that fissure, she felt as if all her feelings, her desires, her love, her hope, were running out into the abyss of despair. Zak had said Tenchi was not interested in her in this manner, but she had refused to believe it, thinking he was just jealous. Now, she was being forced to face the possibility that Zak was right.

"Look at me." She asked again.

Tenchi stood stock still for a moment, then glanced briefly over his shoulder.

"Is that enough?"

"NO!" The fissure widened into a crack. Ryoko tried to keep her hopes alive by teleporting in front of Tenchi again. As he had before, Tenchi turned away once more.

"Look at me!" Ryoko demanded.

"Not until you're decent." Tenchi insisted.

Ryoko tried desperately to understand Tenchi's reluctance to look at her. Everything she knew insisted men liked looking at beautiful women. She had always considered herself very attractive. If Tenchi would not look at her, then, by her reasoning, either he did not like women, which she knew was not true, or she was ugly.

"Don't you like me?"

"I... don't like it when you act this way."

When Ryoko heard Tenchi tell her he did not like her when she was trying her hardest to show him how she felt about him, she decided she had had enough. She took one more deep breath to stave off the tears that were threatening to smash her already battered and bruised emotional control. With that breath, she told Tenchi what she thought of his reluctance to be near her. Her final words were chilling, and only made her hurt more.

"I hate you."

Tenchi finally did turn around when he heard what Ryoko said. He had not wanted to hurt her. But he felt justified in taking a stand for what he believed in. He was only asking for his privacy and a little respect. But when he turned, Ryoko was gone.

_"Oh, God. What have I done?"_

Ryoko went to the only place she was certain she was liked. She went to the only person who had ever told her she was welcome anytime she wanted. She teleported to Zak's apartment.

Zak was in the middle of rearranging his furniture, what little there was. Bent over at the end of his couch, he looked up to greet his visitor.

"Hey, Ryoko, what's..." Zak noticed Ryoko's state of distress. "...wrong?"

Ryoko could not hold her anguish for much longer. She did not want to cry. Most of all, she wanted the pain in her heart to go away. Letting it out in the only way she knew was permissible, she yelled at Zak.

"You lied! You said he couldn't resist!" The tears began to fall. Ryoko redirected some of the anger she felt at herself for looking so weak in front of someone she had come to think of as strong.

"You mean Tenchi?" Zak's expression changed from confused to surprised. "He turned you down?"

Ryoko could feel her control slipping. A small sob broke free. As soon as the first escaped, she felt the others rushing to join it. The last vestiges of Ryoko's control shattered. She started wailing like a small child who had lost it's parents. The sound of her pain was so profound, it struck Zakaraia through to the center of his soul. He rushed to Ryoko and put his arms around her, holding her close. She cried against his chest for a long time. Nothing seemed to ease her pain. Not even the release granted by a serious and heartfelt cry.

The whole while, Zak told Ryoko how she would be safe there, and how she would make it through. He held her close, gently rubbing her back as he tried to ease her pain. After a long while, Ryoko's tears finally subsided. Still unable to face life, she kept her face buried in Zak's shoulder.

"I'm sorry." He apologized.

Ryoko turned her face away. Zak tried to get a little bit of space between them to see if she were ready to stand on her own. She refused to budge.

"It's all right. I'm not going anywhere." He sighed into her hair.

They stayed that way for some time until Ryoko felt she could tell Zak what had happened.

"He wouldn't even look at me."

"Shh. It's all right. You don't have to talk about it."

"Dammit, he wouldn't even look! He said... he said... he doesn't like me..."

She buried her face against his chest as a second wave of sobs wracked her body. Her hands found his shirt and promptly crunched it up in her fists.

"Oh, Ryoko. I'm so sorry. You don't deserve this. You can stay here, if you like. You don't have to go back if you don't want to."

Ryoko's crying quieted a little when he offered her a place to stay.

"Stay as long as you like. I'll even make you breakfast in the morning. I'm not as good a cook as Sasami, but, I've got some skills. And if you feel like going home then, you can."

He felt Ryoko shake her head against his chest.

"All right. You're an adult, you can come and go as you please. Look on the bright side, you're finally getting out of that stuffy old house. It's not right to keep you locked up in there all the time. You're not an animal that has to be kept under lock and key. You're a person; and a very pretty one, at that. You should be free to do what you want."

Ryoko felt a little less vulnerable as Zak's words began to sink in. She finally managed to lift her head from his shoulder for a few moments. 

"Don't cry." Zak implored her. "Pretty girls shouldn't cry."

"You're just saying that."

"No, Ryoko. I really mean it. You're a beautiful and attractive young woman. You deserve better." He reached up and wiped the tears from her face. "Please, don't cry."

Ryoko let Zak hold her for a while as she tried to understand what was happening this evening. She felt completely rejected. It was impossible for her to think about what had happened without wanting to cry again. The idea of Zak being her friend had never really occurred to her. She could see now she had been wrong about him. Zak was no Tenchi. But it was good to know somebody liked her.

"Do I have to sleep on the floor?"

"No, of course not. You can have the fold-out."

Ryoko separated herself from Zak's embrace to throw herself on the fold-out couch. Zak looked at her and smiled.

"Nice tail." The object of his attention switched back-and-forth once.

"Which one?" Ryoko asked.

"Both."

When Ryoko awoke the next morning she found herself covered with a light blanket of baby-blue. The smells and sounds of frying food emanated from the kitchenette. As she shook off the last vestiges of her slumber, Ryoko remembered she had slept in the exotic outfit from the night before. She conjured her oldest outfit, the blue and pink dress, then stood so she could change.

This dress was the first she had ever obtained, and was an old friend. Ryoko held it in front of her so she could look at it. This particular dress was actually a copy of the original, just like all the other outfits she had. So, technically, it was not stolen. Still, she had stolen the original. Now that she thought about it, she had stolen all the originals of her clothes. Besides her black dress and the swimsuit Sasami had bought for her on Jurai, the skimpy outfit lying on the couch was the only one she had not obtained illicitly. Tenchi would disapprove.

_"Tenchi..."_ Ryoko's eyes began filling with tears and her chest started hurting again. The hurting was not as sharp as it was last night, but the pain in her heart were still strong.

Zak emerged from the kitchenette with breakfast in hand.

"Okay! Breakfast is..." His voice trailed off when he saw Ryoko standing next to the couch, naked.

"...beautiful."

Out of the corner of her tear-obscured eye, Ryoko noticed Zak staring at her.

"What're you looking at?"

As usual, Zak's answer was simple and direct.

"You."

"Why?"

"You're beautiful."

Zak's compliments only made matters worse. Ryoko's only wish was to hear such praise from Tenchi. The same Tenchi who had told her only last night that he did not like her.

"Shut up, dammit." Ryoko looked again at the dress she held in her hands. After a moment of consideration, she decided she no longer wanted to wear it. In fact, she did not feel like wearing any of them, so she tossed it aside and sat on the couch. Zak, however, had other ideas.

"Look, I don't really mind if you don't want to wear any clothes. But, it would be really, uh, distracting for me while I'm working."

"So what?" Ryoko hissed, ignoring Zak's discomfort.

Zak was unsure how to answer that until he remembered he was holding breakfast for two. He walked around the couch and set the breakfast tray on the floor. He had no table to set it on.

"I made you breakfast."

"Why?"

Zak was surprised again by the question. Ryoko's level of distrust seemed to have grown tremendously overnight. Again, his answer was simple and obvious.

"It's morning. People eat breakfast in the morning. I know it's not gourmet, but it should meet with your approval."

Ryoko glumly looked down at the simple eggs and ham Zak had prepared for her. She had no real need for food, and what was on the tray would not even come close to filling her appetite. Still, it was better than nothing. Kneeling on the floor, she picked up a plate and began shoveling in the food. Satisfied that Ryoko was making some attempt at normalcy, Zak went into his bedroom.

"I'll be right back." He promised. Seeing that Zak had left the room and his breakfast, Ryoko set her empty plate down and started on the other. When Zak emerged from his bedroom with a sweatshirt in hand and saw his breakfast had become another victim of the infamous Devil-Caller, his initial reaction was indignant, followed by amusement. When Ryoko shot an icy glance across the top of the plate, Zak laughed lightly.

"All right, I deserved that. My fault for leaving breakfast unattended."

"Damn right." Ryoko scolded him as she set down the second plate. "Is there any more?"

"Not yet. But I'll make some, if you want."

"Well, hop to, Hop Sing."

"Oh, just for that, I'm attaching a condition."

"Figures."

"You have to put this on. It should cover everything." Zak tossed the sweatshirt to Ryoko, who reached up and caught it. She grinned evilly.

"I thought you like looking at my body."

"Don't get me wrong!" Zak assured her, holding his hands up in front of him. "I love looking at you. But if you want me to make enough money to buy enough food for you to eat, then I need to work without being constantly distracted."

Accepting his explanation, Ryoko examined the article of clothing. It was a sweatshirt, pure and simple. There were no buttons or catches or snaps. It was big for her, which meant it probable fit Zak well.

"Whatever." Ryoko pulled it over her head. She felt like she were swimming in it. "Shit, man! If your chest is bigger than mine, then something's wrong."

Zak laughed.

"Hey, I can't help it if I'm well-built." Zak examined Ryoko for a moment, apparently satisfied with her compliance. "Much better. Now, I'll make more food. More of the same?"

"Fine. Just hurry it up. I'm starving over here."

Zak stooped to retrieve the tray of empty dishes, then reentered the kitchenette. When he returned only five minutes later with two large helpings of eggs and ham, Ryoko was pleasantly surprised.

"That was quick. Sasami's meals are better, but yours are faster." Ryoko hungrily dug in to her third plate.

"Aw, ham and eggs are easy. Just throw 'em in the pan for a minute and they're done."

"That's it?" She asked between mouthfuls.

"That's it."

"Huh."

"Want me to show you how?"

"Umm, no."

"Do you have something else to do?"

Finishing the plate, Ryoko set it down on the tray. She drained the glass of orange juice, then belched.

"That's better."

"So, do you?"

Ryoko looked at Zak as if she had no idea what he was talking about.

"Do I what?"

"Ha. Nice try. But you're not getting off that easy. Come on." Zak nodded towards the kitchenette. "I'll show you how to cook."

Ryoko picked up the last plate of food.

"Not interested." She said before starting in on it. Zak contemplated how he could get her to make an attempt at the finer arts.

"Don't you want to learn to do something that Aeka can't?"

Ryoko froze. A gleam began to shine in her eyes. She continued her fourth plate a little bit slower. After finishing, she gave Zak her final answer.

"Let's go."

"All right!" Zak grabbed Ryoko's by the hand and dragged her into the kitchenette.

"Hey! What's the rush?" She complained.

"Sorry. I guess I got a little excited."

Ryoko glared at him. Turning to the stove, Zak quickly explained the basics.

"Okay, here's the stove. We'll just work on the eggs to start. They're easiest." He picked up a cast-iron frying pan and spun it in his hand once.

"This is the frying pan."

"Are you sure?" Ryoko interrupted.

"Heh, right. Anyway, just put it on the same size burner and turn that burner up to medium high." Zak demonstrated the first action. "I'm gonna do the first egg so you can see how, then you do the second. Okay?"

"Fine."

Taking a step to the refrigerator, Zak opened the door.

"Eggs are right here." He opened a drawer and pulled out a nearly empty carton of eggs. "Remind me to go get more tonight."

"Go get more eggs tonight." Ryoko immediately reminded Zak.

"Oh, you're just full of good humor this morning."

"Not my fault if you keep leaving the door open."

"I'll keep that in mind." Smiling, Zak held up on of the two remaining eggs in one hand and shut the refrigerator door with the other. He then set the eggs down on the counter.

"Next add some butter so the eggs don't stick to the bottom of the pan."

The butter was located on a small plate next to the stove. Also, on the edge of the plate was a butter knife. He grasped the knife and with a quick downward motion, separated a slice from the stick. Zak balanced the pat of butter on the knife on it's way to the frying pan. When the butter hit the pan it sizzled and spat on the already hot metal surface.

"Next, crack the egg and dump the contents into the pan."

Zak started to crack the egg against the edge of the frying pan, but decided that might be asking too much for a beginner.

"Umm, you can crack it against the edge of the pan, but I'd recommend just using your fingers to start." He grasped the egg in both hands directly over the pan and crushed the fragile shell. The yellow and clear contents plopped into the sizzling butter. Zak tossed the shell aside.

"Now, there's different ways to make eggs, but the easiest is scrambled. All you do is mix it up until all about the same color and then let it cook until it's not runny."

They stood in front of the stove watching eggs cook. Zak cracked a grin.

"Isn't this exciting?"

Ryoko's face twisted in response to his sarcastic mirth.

"That's it?"

"That's it." Zak confirmed. He used the butter knife to mix the yolk and white together, forming a whirl of rapidly solidifying egg.

"Keep the eggs moving in the pan or they might stick, even with the butter."

"Why use butter, then?"

"Because it definitely will stick if you don't."

"Oh."

They waiting another minute until Zak pronounced the egg cooked.

"That should do it." He lightly touched the pan handle to check it's temperature.

"With a pan like this, it's usually okay to use your bare hand unless you've been cooking for a while. Otherwise, it'll probably be too hot to touch." He grasped the handle, then positioned the pan directly over one of the used plates on his left. The scrambled egg slid out onto the plate when he turned the pan onto it's side. With a flourish, Zak placed the pan back on the burner. He shut the burner off, resetting it for the next user.

"Your turn."

"Me? No way! I thought you were kidding!"

"Nope."

"I can't do that!"

"Yes, you can." Zak reassured her.

His strong presence and confidence convinced Ryoko to give it a try. She had tried cooking in the past, but because of her weak sense of taste, she had always botched it. Cleaning up afterwards was a real pain, as well.

Ryoko looked into the frying pan and sighed.

_"All right. I'll do it right for once."_

Picking up the butter knife, Ryoko sliced a sliver of butter from the stick. She carefully balanced it on the knife as Zak had. When it began to wilt over the edge of the warm knife, she quickly moved it over the pan and turned it over. The butter stuck to the knife for a moment, then fell into the pan. It began melting, but much slower than before and it did not hiss and spit.

"What's different?" She asked Zak.

"What's the first thing you do when you cook?"

"Oh. Doy! Turn on the heat!" She reached forward and turned the burner on about three-quarters of the way.

"There you go."

Ryoko knew there was no way she could screw-up with someone coaching her. But what she really wanted to do was cook without any help. She wanted to do it on her own. Then it would mean something.

_"Easy, girl. One step at a time."_ She reminded herself.

"So, just let it melt or should I spread it around?"

"Heck, yeah. Spread it around. As soon as it's melted, throw in the egg."

"Oh, so should I actually throw it in or should I do what you did?"

"Ah, do what I did."

"Mmm-hmm." Ryoko's sarcastic tone spoke volumes.

When the pat of butter in the pan was completely liquefied, Ryoko picked up the sole remaining egg. She held it directly over the pan just as Zak had and pushed her fingertips through the shell. Thick clear liquid began running from the inside and down her fingers. Ignoring the weird feeling, Ryoko let the yolk and most of the white fall into the pan. The clear liquid immediately turned white. Finding Zak's discarded shell, she tossed hers to the same location.

Not wanting to fall behind the rapidly cooking egg's pace, Ryoko grasped the butter knife. It slipped from her hand and landed in the frying pan.

"Shit!" Ryoko cursed vehemently. She tried to reach into the pan and nearly burned her fingertips.

"I knew it!" She slammed her fist against the stove top in frustration, denting the white, nonstick surface.

"Hey, don't worry. Your hand was slippery from the egg. Just wash your hands then get the knife out with something else."

Ryoko went straight to the sink and turned on the water. As she scrubbed her hands, Zak opened a drawer and removed the proper tool for cooking in a frying pan; a spatula. When Ryoko returned to her nearly solid egg, Zak presented her with the new utensil.

"Try this."

"Well, Hell! Why didn't you give me this to begin with?"

"Sorry." Zak apologized for his lack of forethought.

"'Sorry' he says. I'll 'sorry' him." Ryoko grumbled under her breath as she looked forlornly at her failed attempt.

"Don't worry about the egg. You'll just have it sunny-side-up."

"Sunny-side-up?" She asked.

"Sure. It's perfectly fine that way."

"AHH! Why doesn't anybody tell me these things?!" She smacked her hand against the stove again, this time with slightly less force.

Zak looked at Ryoko in surprise. She was getting excessively worked up over something really insignificant. Zak began wondering if she was just stressed-out or if what had happened with Tenchi had affected her more than he thought. He only wanted to get Ryoko's mind off her problems. But it seemed to have only made things worse. He put his hand on her shoulder to show his support.

"I'm just trying to help."

She pushed his hand off as she sniffled back her frustration.

"I don't need your help. Or your sympathy."

Zak stood silently behind Ryoko as the egg continued to sizzle, wishing there was something he could do for her to ease her pain.

"Ryoko..."

"What?"

"I think your egg's done."

Ryoko grabbed the pan and dumped it's contents onto the same plate Zak had. The knife clanked loudly against the plate. Using her bare fingers, she reached in and pulled it out of the egg. Exercising a little more self-control, she set the knife down on the counter. Picking up the egg laden plate, she presented it to Zak.

"Your eggs are ready."

Zak smiled at her. He picked up the fork that was still on the plate and cut a portion of Ryoko's sunny-side-up egg and put it in his mouth. As he expected, it was an egg. Nothing crazy or exotic, just an egg; sunny-side-up, that is.

"It's good."

Ryoko did not look convinced.

"Really?"

"Yes. You did a good job."

She looked him square in the eye.

"You're not just saying that?"

"No. I really mean it. You should have seen the mess I made the first time I tried to cook."

Ryoko did not bother to tell Zak this was not her first attempt at cooking. She was starting to feel better and did not want to ruin it for herself. Zak took another bite and smiled in mid-chew.

"It's good."

Ryoko looked at the egg with a knife impression in it. She had really cooked something. Aeka would have a fit if she knew about it. The barest hint of a smile tugged at the corners of Ryoko's lips as a sense of accomplishment bolstered her crushed self-esteem. She began to feel a little bit better about having come to see Zak.

Around noon, the telephone rang. Zak knew full-well that Ryoko would not answer the phone, so he went from the back room to the kitchenette, where the phone was located.

"Zak's. What can I do for you?"

"Hi, Zak, it's Tenchi."

"Hmm. It's funny you should call."

"Is Ryoko there? She took off last night and hasn't come back yet. I thought you might have seen her."

"As a matter of fact, I have. She lying on the couch, right now."

Ryoko looked over the back of the couch.

"Could I talk to her?" Tenchi asked.

"Only if you intend to apologize for what you said to her last night."

"She told you about that?"

"Yes, she did."

There was a short pause.

"That's exactly what I intend to do."

"All right." Zak looked at Ryoko and pointed to the phone. "Hold on."

Ryoko slowly sank back down out of view. Only a bit of her hair remained visible.

"Um... It looks like she doesn't want to talk right now."

There was a long silence on the other end.

"Hello?" Zak prompted.

"All right. Thanks." Tenchi hung up.

Zak looked at the phone for a moment before hanging up. Instead of going back to his work area, he stopped in front of the couch and sat down. A trail of tears ran across Ryoko's face. Of course, Zak had to wipe them.

"He wanted to apologize."

"I know." She managed.

"Don't cry." Zak pleaded with her.

"Sorry, if it bothers you too much." Ryoko snapped, turning over to hide herself.

Zak stared at the back of Ryoko's head for several seconds, at a loss for what to do to help ease her pain. Eventually, his rumbling stomach provided an avenue of approach.

"Ryoko, I'm going to make lunch. Would you like to learn how to make a tuna-fish sandwich?"

He saw her wipe at her face.

"Lunch sounds good."

Later, that evening, Zak set a bottle of liquor on the floor in front the couch. He sat almost directly in Ryoko's line of sight, so that there was no way she could not see what he had. Maybe this would get her to interact a little more. Ryoko eyed the bottle for a moment, then returned her attention to the television. Zak watched her carefully while pouring himself a shot. It was not until after he slammed it back that Ryoko finally spoke.

"What is that?"

"Sake doesn't have enough of a bite for me. So, I buy American alcohol."

"Pretty rude no to offer a lady any."

"You seemed so interested in this game show that I didn't want to interrupt you."

Ryoko looked at the bottle as Zak poured a second shot. When she noticed he had a second shot glass with him, she knew he was teasing her. That was no problem for her. She could tease as well as anybody. She reached out and snatched the bottle from him, causing a small amount of the liquid to spill from his glass.

"Hey! Don't spill it! This stuff's expensive here."

Ryoko turned over onto her back. She opened her mouth and began pouring the contents of the bottle down her throat. Two and a half swallows later, she found out just how much bite was in the bottle. She sat up, trying not to choke on the much stronger alcoholic content. It was not that she could not tolerate strong drink, she just was not used to was how much stronger this was than what she normally drank. Ryoko finally managed to gulp down the last of what she had in her mouth.

"Aaaaahhhh!" She breathed out. "Now that's booze!" Ryoko planted the top of the bottle against her mouth and began rapidly draining it's contents.

"Um, excuse me. Can I have some?"

The corners of Ryoko's mouth turned up. She continued to drink.

"Oh, I see. Well then." Zak reached beside the couch and revealed another bottle to her. When Ryoko saw the new beverage, her eyes widened. She pulled the nearly empty bottle away.

"You didn't say you had another one."

"You didn't ask." Zak grinned at her as he opened the new bottle. "Anyway, I figured you'd probably drain one by yourself just to start, so I bought two. If you promise to behave, I'll share it with you."

"Behave? In your dreams! I am now officially drunk. So don't expect me to behave."

"In that case, you are now officially cut-off."

"What?!"

"Sucks to be you."

"The Hell it does!" Ryoko launched herself at the bottle. She was met by Zak's foot planted firmly against her chest.

"Relax!" He laughed. "I'm just kidding! Let me have some, first." He held the bottle up and began draining it in the same manner as Ryoko had the first. After a moment, she began to get impressed. After a couple more moments, she began to get annoyed.

"Hurry up, you sloth. I wanna get drunk sometime tonight."

Good booze sprayed across the room from Zak's mouth. He began laughing like a hyena. Ryoko took the opportunity to snatch the second bottle from his grasp. She watched Zak laugh while she finished the bottle he had started. Once Zak regained some self-control, he explained what was so funny.

"A sloth! That's great! No one's ever called me that before."

Ryoko tossed the second empty bottle to him.

"Stick around. You'll hear a lot of things you haven't before." She threw herself back down onto the couch. The alcohol quickly worked into her system. It's fiery continence rolled around in her stomach, warming Ryoko from the inside out. She waited impatiently for it to affect her mental processes. Everything would be better then. While she waited, the television occupied her attention. Zak watched Ryoko's choice in television programming for fifteen seconds before giving his opinion on the show.

"How can you watch that crap?"

"So what if I do?"

"I'm changing it. Where's the remote?"

Ryoko reached behind her head and pulled the remote from it's hiding place between the arm of the couch and the cushion.

"It's mine and you can't have it."

"Wanna bet?"

A daring smile appeared on Ryoko's face. She flipped onto her stomach with the remote held to her chest.

"Yup."

"You think I won't try to get it just because you're on top of it?"

"That's right." Ryoko dared him.

Zak smiled back.

"You asked for it." He rose to his knees and stuffed one hand under her chest to fish around for the remote. When he received a slight electrical shock, Zak quickly snatched his hand back.

"What the Hell was that for?"

"It must be my magnetic personality."

"Magnetic, my ass! You zapped me!"

"Yup."

"So that's how it's going to be. Okay, girl. Two can play at that game."

Zak stuffed his hand back between Ryoko and the couch, making sure to place his other hand in the middle of her back. When he felt the electrical charge building again, he countered it with another of opposite polarity, canceling the two voltages. Ryoko watched Zak's reactions as she upped the voltage. He grimaced for a moment then relaxed as he compensated for the change. The tips of his fingers brushed the remote.

"There it is."

"I don't think you can hold out." Ryoko smugly cautioned him.

"I can hold out long enough."

Ryoko could feel Zak's hand beginning to enfold the remote. She leaned to her left, pinning his arm to the couch.

"Not so easy now, is it?"

Instead of answering, Zak moved his free hand from her back to her upraised hip and pulled, rolling her over and off the couch.

"WAAH!" Ryoko landed just in front of Zak, belly up. He leapt over her, taking her place on the couch.

"You may have the remote, but I've got the couch!"

"No fair! You cheated!" Ryoko accused him.

"I did not. I simply changed the rules."

"Bull! Gimme my place back!"

"Come and get it." Zak invited her.

Ryoko gawked at him for a moment before launching herself at the occupied couch. Her flying-body-tackle crushed Zak against the back cushions, making the couch rock back, dangerously.

"Move it! You're in my space." As Ryoko tried to push Zak out of her way with the leverage in her hips, she felt one of his hands come to rest on her waist. She froze.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Watching TV."

Ryoko hesitated. Normally she would have made a huge scene and probably beat the crap out of anyone except Tenchi for trying something like that. However, things were not normal. She tried to think of what to do, but her mind was well muddled by the alcohol, and she had no intention of getting sober so soon.

Ever so slowly, she began to relax. Ryoko could not hold it against Zak for wanting to get close to a beautiful girl he had a crush on. Through the fabric of the sweatshirt, she could feel Zak's thumb moving slowly back and forth. Somehow, it felt reassuring to her to know he liked her so much. He certainly seemed to like her more than Tenchi. And Ryoko was sick of crying for someone who did not want her.

"That'd better be all you're doing." She told Zak, maintaining her tough attitude.

Zak did not move his hand. Ryoko did not expect him to. She had not asked.

Ryoko surfed the cable channels for twenty minutes before deciding there was nothing interesting on. Disgusted with the lack of decent programming, she mashed the power button on the remote control. The TV went off, plunging the room into near darkness. The only illumination came from the city lights shining through the windows.

"I'm going to sleep now." Ryoko announced.

"Is that so?"

"Don't even think about it." She warned Zak.

"About what?"

"Oh, please. I'm not dumb. We had some fun wrestling around. But that's as far as it's going. If you try anything, you'll regret it."

"I'll keep that in mind while I'm asleep." Zak sarcastically complied.

"Fine."

Ryoko closed her eyes. She knew if she told Zak to sleep in his own room, he would. The reason she did not ask was because of how he was treating her. He talked to her the way she wanted. He played the way she liked. He held her in a warm and comforting manner. Basically, he treated her the way she wanted to be treated.

It was not that Ryoko was interested in Zak. She was aware of the way her body reacted to attractive men and Zak was one of the most attractive men she had ever seen. But her deep love for Tenchi always overrode any mere physical attraction she may have felt. Her feelings for him ran so deep, she felt his existence were an integral part of hers. Without Tenchi, Ryoko would not be who she was.

That love had been shaken to it's core. Ryoko's soul absolutely required Tenchi's presence to remain whole. It hurt her terribly to hear Tenchi say he did not like her. Normally she could have dealt with it, since he was usually only angry over some small transgression, and quickly forgave her. This time there was nothing to forgive.

Ryoko had left the Masaki home feeling unwanted, unliked, and ugly. She had come here only as a last resort. Zakaraia was the only remaining person she knew of who might show her some kindness. With the last shred of her failing trust, she had come to him as a friend needing emotional support. She hated knowing her own feelings could betray her at any time by turning her into a shuddering pile of tears.

Right now she needed some time. How much was unknown to her. The most important aspect of this time for Ryoko was to rebuild her destroyed self-confidence. Zak was helping her do that. So she let him touch her. She let him wrestle around with her. She accepted his compliments at face-value. The capacity to doubt his words was almost nil for the time being. He had bought her that flaming-hot outfit. Wearing it made her feel incredibly desirable. It was a feeling she highly valued.

The problem now was that she had not really meant it when she said she hated Tenchi, only that she hated how he had made her feel. She had run to the only source of good feelings left to her and was now afraid to leave. Zak's feelings would protect her while she reclaimed her own true feelings from the rubble of disaster. Until then, she would borrow his feelings and use them as her own. With Zak's warmth buffering her from the coldness of an uncaring world, Ryoko fell asleep.

Ryoko was disturbed by something warm and wet on her neck. She blinked away her sleepiness, trying to discern what was touching her neck. A moment later, it moved, and she realized Zak was kissing her. Her heart began to thump in her chest.

_"I... guess I can do it. If I want."_ Ryoko thought to herself. _"It's not like there's any reason for me to wait anymore. Tenchi doesn't want me. And I'm pretty sure Zak would do it if I offered him."_

But Ryoko's rationalizations did not have the soothing effect she had intended. An entire squadron of butterflies were flapping around in her stomach. Despite that, she did like how it felt to be touched in such an intimate way.

In the past, she had made sure everyone knew she wanted Tenchi. What everyone did not know, was the darker side to that desire. It was the reason she always reacted so violently when any other man besides Tenchi approached her. She was afraid of the temptation they represented. She knew she could have just about any man she wanted if she set her mind to it. Then, she could have the soft words and caresses she desired. The only problem was that it would not be Tenchi. She could close her eyes and pretend, but it still would not be Tenchi. And in the morning, when her lust was sated, she would hate herself for betraying him.

Now it made little difference. Tenchi had made it plain he did not desire her in any way. There was no longer any reason for her not to indulge in the sole aspect of her feelings she had yet to explore. Although she was free from that restraint, something within her would not allow her to let go enough so that she could engage in an intimate relationship with someone else. Every time she tried to think of a sexual act, she saw herself with Tenchi. The more she thought of sex, the more she thought of Tenchi. Soon, she thinking more of Tenchi than of sex.

She thought of watching him grow up.

_"He was so cute back then."_

She thought of when he had moved to the city with his father.

_"I missed you, so much."_

She thought of the first time she had physically touched him.

_"I was afraid you were a dream."_

She thought of the times he had saved her life.

_"You're so brave and strong."_

She thought of the time she had conspired with Aeka to get the other girls out of the house so she could have Tenchi to herself for a night. Freed of the last vestiges of Kagato's control, she had felt her blossoming feelings reach their full-strength. She was nearly overwhelmed by the incredible sensations and heady desire that had filled her that night.

_"I wanted you so much that night."_

She thought of how warm she had felt in Tenchi's arms on the roof of the Jurai Royal Palace.

_"I was so afraid of losing you."_

She thought of how proud she had felt, despite her outward embarrassment, when Tenchi had led the applause after she had been pardoned.

_"I need you."_

She thought of how beautiful she had felt when Tenchi had first seen her in her black dress, his eyes wide and mouth gaping like a goldfish.

_"I want you."_

She thought of how tenderly Tenchi had kissed her when she was lying in his hotel room in San Francisco, half passed-out from exhaustion.

_"I love you."_

Ryoko closed her eyes.

_"I can't do this."_

The warm and wet tongue slid up the side of her neck.

_"Well, maybe just for a little while."_

Zak's free hand moved to her stomach where it gently traced the curves of her abdominal muscles through the material of the sweatshirt she was wearing.

_"Mmm. That's perfect. Just like that. Keep things like this and I won't say a word."_

As she expected, the hand did eventually move away. It moved up her side to her shoulder, where Zak's deft fingers hooked the neck of the shirt and pulled it away from her neck, exposing her left shoulder. A moment later, she felt that warm tongue slide down her neck from her jawbone to the tip of her collarbone. She held her breath, trying not to let on to how excited she was beginning to feel.

_"Damn, that felt good. Maybe I should stop."_

As the initial wave of feelings passed, Ryoko found herself in complete control, once more.

_"Never mind. False alarm."_

Zak kissed her shoulder for a while, before retreating back to her neck. He released the neck hem of the sweatshirt and followed her arm to her hand, which was partially folded in front of her. She opened her eyes and watched as Zak's fingers carefully insinuated themselves between hers. He squeezed her hand a bit, then released.

_"Does he know I'm awake? Or is he just showing his feelings? Hell, I guess it doesn't really matter."_

Zak moved his hand down to Ryoko's hip. His fingers danced across her skin for a few moments before moving under the sweatshirt to her waist. He found her stomach again, and began tracing circles on her belly. She almost smiled at the pleasurable feelings that brought on. After he drew a few circles with his fingertips, she began to notice that each circle was going lower than the preceding one. She was not adverse to Zak touching her low on her stomach, so long as he stayed on her stomach. If he went too far, there would be major trouble.

Zak seemed to understand the limits. The hand he was using stayed within the acceptable area. The circles came to a stop, and Zak flattened his entire hand against her lower abdomen. Ryoko's bodily reactions to Zak touching her began to get stronger. She continued to lay still, as his tongue worked its way to her ear. He kissed and licked at the long aural object.

_"That feels good."_

The hand was on the move again. It slid back to the side of her hip and stayed there for a few seconds before moving down the outside of her thigh. She felt another surge of desire, stronger this time. As expected, the hand came back up her leg along the same line as it went down. She inadvertently sighed.

_"That feels really good."_

As the hand curled around her hip towards her stomach, Ryoko's primal urges began to assert themselves. Her temperature began to rise and her body began to ache. It became more difficult for her to control her breathing. Instead of moving back to her stomach, the hand went down the front of her leg this time, only much slower than before. When Zak's touch made her shudder, she decided it was time to put an end to the evening's activities, before things got out of hand.

"Stop."

"Why?" Zak whispered into her ear as his hand reached the limits of its reach.

"Because I don't like it."

"If you didn't like what I was doing, why didn't you say something earlier?" He asked, slowly dragging his fingers along the length of her thigh.

"I..." Ryoko realized Zak had ensnared her with her own words.

"Because you like what I'm doing." He answered for her. As the hand continued moving, Ryoko tried again to dissuade him.

"Look, I know you don't wanna stop, but I'm trying to be nice about it."

Zak's response was not quite what she was expecting.

"I want you."

Ryoko's body began to send some very clear signals as to what she should and should not allow Zak to do. She started quivering as the hand reached the halfway point.

"Well, I don't want you, so stop it."

At the three-quarters point, Zak curled his hand over her thigh and gave her a firm squeeze. Ryoko bit her lip to counter her rapidly growing arousal.

"I... I'm not kidding. Stop it."

Zak continued on, heedless of Ryoko's more than generous warnings. He added to his attempt at seduction by kissing her neck again. The renewed sensation nearly floored her. She tried desperately to regain control. Growing restless, she shifted the leg he was caressing further away. Unfortunately, Zak was far enough up that it did not make much difference. His hand slipped to the inside of her thigh and gently massaged the firm muscles beneath the skin. This sent more waves of pleasure through her body, hopelessly clouding her mind. He reinforced the feelings with words.

"I want you so much."

Then he further reinforced the words with more action. He pressed his hips firmly against her bare rear. The desire Ryoko felt became almost unbearable. A gust of air burst from her lungs, verifying to Zak what she was feeling. The hand resumed its inexorable march up the inside of her leg. Realizing Zak was only a moment away from his objective, she clamped her legs together tightly, pinning his hand just short of its destination.

"Don't." She breathlessly told him, resolving not to let him go any further.

Zak's response was to squeeze her groin and push against her rear again. Her grip on his hand slackened.

"Please?" She practically begged of him.

Zak's hand broke free of the restraint. When she felt his hand trespass onto what she considered private property, Ryoko finally grew angry. She had demanded several times, politely even, for Zak to stop, and he had not. No matter how good it felt physically, what he was doing did not feel right in her heart. Therefore, she made good on her word.

Ryoko lit Zak up like a Christmas tree. The room flashed and jumped as the light from her electrical discharge illuminated the space like an irregular strobe. It lasted only a second, but for her, it was a long time, especially considering how strongly she had zapped him.

Finally free of Zak's roving interest, she sat up and straightened her hair. The lust she had felt a few moments was quickly disappearing. Her breathing soon resumed its normal pace and her head felt much clearer.

_"Damn. What the Hell was I thinking?"_

She looked over her shoulder to make sure Zak had been well and truly dissuaded from further attempts of seductive action. His hair was sticking straight out and tendrils of smoke issued from his clothes. He lay absolutely still.

"Warned you, didn't I?"

There was no answer. Ryoko turned around and shook him.

"All right, Romeo. Get up. You're sleeping in your room, tonight, and every night... from... now..." Her voice trailed off as she noticed how absolutely still Zak was.

"Um..." It took her a second to figure out he was playing a joke on her.

"Ah. Okay, I get it. You're pissed I made you stop when you were just getting warmed up."

She shook him again.

"Come on. Get up."

Still there was no movement. She started to get a little worried.

"Come on, Zak. This isn't funny anymore." She shook him harder. "Would you wake up?"

He continued to lay still.

"I didn't hit you that hard! Did I?"

Ryoko watched him for several seconds, with no change. Growing more concerned by the second, she leaned over and held her ear against his chest. When no sound issued from his chest, she lurched back. Grabbing his shoulders with both hands, she shook him, hard.

"Come on! Wake up you jerk! I didn't mean to! I didn't hit you that hard! You can take that measly little shock! Wake up, damn it!"

When her efforts proved useless, she sat back. A tear fell from her eye.

"I'm... sorry."

Zak's chest suddenly rose, and he took a huge shuddering breath. A huge wave of relief flooded Ryoko's heart. Knowing Zak had not died let her express herself in a manner she was more accustomed to. She ground her teeth and began yelling at the unconscious person.

"You jerk! You scared the shit out of me!"

She reached forward and grabbed Zak by the back of his shirt and pants. She stood, then walked to his room, hauling him along like so much baggage.

"Just for that, you get air-delivered!"

As promised, Ryoko tossed Zak into the middle of his room. He sailed through the air and landed in the middle of a pile of consumer electronics. CD players and tape decks went everywhere, as Zak came to rest amongst his work. The door slammed shut, and Ryoko went back to the fold-out couch. She laid down on the couch and brooded about the evening's events.

Her feelings were pulling her in all different directions, demanding she do things she was not accustomed to doing. Zak's attempt at seducing her had nearly been successful. It was an occurrence that would have been unthinkable only a day ago. She could not get out of her mind how good it had felt to be touched that way.

Then there was her reaction to nearly killing him with her electrical shock. She had been ready to cry just as he had started breathing again. The thought of losing the only person who really cared about her was very upsetting. She wiped a stray tear that rolled out of her eye.

_"Stupid jerk."_

The blanket Ryoko had used last night had been put away. So she had no covers tonight, not that she would get cold. But still, if she could get cold, she imagined it might feel this way. Zak had been keeping her warm. Without the heat source against her back, she began to understand the difference between warm and cold. She felt cold without someone next to her.

_"Alone."_ Ryoko buried her face in the pillow Zak had so graciously given her to use. Her silent tears were quickly absorbed by the fluffy material.

_"I don't want to be alone anymore."_

END CHAPTER 3.

AFTERWORD: What's up with Ryoko? She's acting strangely, no? Even she can only take so much rejection. Especially when someone else is ready to show her the love and affection she so greatly desires.

See the outfit Zak gave to Ryoko at this site: 

http://www.animaxis.com/images/products/110863.jpg

I think it's about time Ryoko learned a little more about cooking. I always thought there was no real reason why she couldn't, except for a lack of motivation due to her inability to taste well. What's the joy in cooking if you can't taste what you make? Anyway, at least Zak's giving her something to keep her mind off her troubles. Heh-heh-heh.

On the subject of cooking, I didn't feel the need to go into an in-depth explanation of how to make a tuna-fish sandwich. You get the idea.


	11. Desire

****

INVASION Volume 2, Part 4: **Desire.**

DISCLAIMER: Tenchi Muyou! is copyright AIC/Pioneer, LDC. I do not own or claim any rights to the series or characters. However, this story is entirely a product of my imagination. So, please do not change it! Other than that, feel free to distribute as widely as desired.

FOREWORD: In Japan, they drive on the left side of the street. Therefore, if you were to cross the street, the traffic will come from the right first, then the left.

Certain persons have been letting me know in no uncertain terms that Ryoko and Zak should not be getting together. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Just remember, this is Tenchi Muyo! It just wouldn't be the same if I wrote something that far from what we all know and love. Suffice to say, all will turn out right in the end.

I included the days of the week to help with continuity. Originally, Ryoko's stay at Zak's was to last for two weeks. But, I realized that left so much free time for Ryoko to get into trouble that it just didn't seem likely. So, I trimmed it down.

AUTHOR: Dreamr

EMAIL: TrueDreamr@Hotmail.com

LAST REVISION: 25 July 2002

BEGIN CHAPTER 4.

SUNDAY.

Like a certain scientist residing at the foot of the Masaki Shrine, Zak set down his soldering iron and laughed with glee.

"Ya, ha ha ha! I am a genius! I love it when repairs go like this! Now comes the fun part. Hey, Ryoko!" Zak addressed her across the apartment. "Do you know how to play a guitar?"

"Yeah, why?" She answered from her place, stretched out on the couch.

"Really? Cool. I just fixed this guy's amplifier and I need to hook it up and see if it works. I don't have to actually play it to see if it works, but, it would be nice if I got to listen to something other than random twangs and noise."

Ryoko got up and stuck her head in the back room to see what Zak was working on.

"Looks like something Washu would work on."

"Very true. But, she would probably try to improve it to the point where it would break every window within ten kilometers. I just fix them."

Ryoko snickered at Zak's good-natured jab.

"Wanna try it out for me?" He offered.

"You got a guitar?"

"The owner was kind enough to let me borrow one. It's right over there in that case." He pointed to the far corner as he uncoiled the power cable.

Ryoko went to the case and opened it, revealing an electric guitar and its accessories. She took the guitar, the signal cable, and the pick, to the amplifier and plugged the cable into the appropriate jacks. Zak briefly examined the settings before turning the amp on. There was a slight thump as the capacitors within began to charge. He sat down right in front of the large speaker.

"What should I play?" Ryoko asked.

"Anything."

"Hmm..."

Then, Zak saw something he had not seen much of in the last couple days. Ryoko began to smile. She peacefully strummed the pick across the strings once to familiarize herself with the instrument before beginning the song she had thought of. At first, Zak thought it was a classical Spanish piece. But, remembering that Ryoko was not from this planet, he discarded the idea. As Ryoko finished the first song, she began another, skillfully mixing the first with the second.

"Ryoko, where did you learn to play like that?"

"Someplace very far away."

"You're really good."

"I had a good teacher."

"Hmm. He must have been a very patient teacher."

Ryoko's smile grew as she relived one of her few good memories from long ago.

"Very."

"I think I'm jealous."

"Don't be."

"Why?"

Ryoko's smile disappeared, and she stopped playing.

"Because he's dead." She told him, setting the guitar on the floor.

Without further comment, Ryoko went back into the other room and flopped down on the couch. Zak watched her go, curious as to what had happened back then. But, from her attitude regarding the past, he had a strong feeling she would not be willing to talk about it. For the time being, he let it go.

Later that night, Zak awoke when he heard the amp come on. He opened his eyes and saw Ryoko's form illuminated by a small orange energy ball she held in one hand. She adjusted the controls for a moment, then let the light go out. There was a little bit of noise as she sat on top of the amplifier cabinet with the energized instrument. Then, he heard her start to play at a very low volume. At first, he heard a few sniffles. Gradually they ceased as she continued to play. Zak tried to stay awake for the performance. But, eventually, he was lulled to sleep by the sweet melodies.

MONDAY.

"Finally." Aeka congratulated herself on finishing her chores early. Now, she had only one small activity left to do. She had run out of a certain color thread for her embroidery work yesterday and needed to refill. Normally, she could have called Tenchi's father and asked him to purchase some on his way home. Or, as a secondary measure, she could ask Washu to make some for her. However, she had intentionally not asked either of them for this small favor.

Today was Tenchi's first day of final exams. He had let on that his schedule would be irregular for the next week. Today was one of those days. His first exam would take all morning, but there was nothing scheduled for this afternoon.

Aeka looked at the hallway clock and gasped at the time.

"Almost noon!" She had only five minutes to make it to the bus stop or she would miss the bus into town. She was taking a big chance on trying to meet Tenchi before he got on the very same bus she would be disembarking in front of his school. Since he had the afternoon off, and she needed to go in to town on an errand, it made sense to her that they should meet.

Since Tenchi had finally asked her out, she felt it was now acceptable for her to make herself available to him. Although it was pushing the bounds of propriety, it was not like she was throwing herself at him. She would simply inform Lord Tenchi as to her reason for going into town and wait to see if he asked to accompany her. Knowing Tenchi, he would.

"God damn, piece-of-crap, ancient-ass, tape decks." Zak complained as he headed to the kitchen for a well-deserved break. He had been working on one piece of equipment for most of the day with little success and was starting to get stressed over it. When he opened the refrigerator door, he found almost nothing but empty space.

"Pick the one on the right!"

Zak looked into the living room to see Ryoko verbally encouraging a game show contestant to pick the door on the right. When the contestant choose otherwise, she fell to insults.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" (_Can't you just hear Ai Orikasa saying 'Baka, baka, baka!' D.)_

"You know what I was thinking?" Zak called across the room.

Ignoring his question, Ryoko broke out into a fit of laughter.

"Ha ha ha! Told you so!"

Apparently, the contestant chose wrong.

"Ryoko!"

"What?" She called back, annoyed at the interruption.

"We're out of food."

"So buy more."

"How about if we go out for lunch?"

Ryoko gave him her patented "You must be crazy" look.

"Look. We're out of food, it's lunch time, and I'm out of ideas. Besides, I need to buy something for dinner." Zak considered eating establishments for a moment. "Ah! I know a place you'd like. It's a Mongolian Grill."

Ryoko's look grew suspicious.

"Are you asking me for a date?"

"No." Zak was quick to answer. "But, since that's where I'm going for lunch today, I thought I might mention it to you so you can decide if you want to eat."

He watched Ryoko for evidence of a change of heart. Seeing little difference, he added in another piece of bait.

"It's all you can eat."

That got her attention.

"All you can eat, huh?"

"Yup. That's lunch. So if you want to eat, you're gonna have to go there."

Ryoko considered Zak's proposal for a long time. She was about to decline, when her stomach growled it's opinion.

"Can I take that as a yes?" Zak asked, grinning.

"All right, I'll go." She reluctantly agreed.

"Cool. Although, you are going to have to put on some regular clothes."

Ryoko looked down at herself. She still wore the sweatshirt Zak had given her to wear. She had not bathed in two and a half days and her hair was fairly badly tangled. She sighed.

"Where's the bath?"

"What? Do you think I'm rich or something?"

"No bath?" She skeptically asked.

"Just a shower."

"Some apartment."

"Hey, it's better than what some people can afford."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Aeka fairly leapt out of the bus door. However, a wall of high-school students, all eager to board and be away from their exhaustive tests, stood in her way.

"Excuse me." She tried to make her way through the wall, but they rudely blocked her in their attempt to board. She found herself being swept along with them.

"Please, let me through!"

Suddenly, someone grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of the throng of young men and women.

"Let go of me this - oh!"

It was Tenchi.

"Aeka, what are you doing here?" He suspiciously asked her, releasing her wrist.

"Well, I, uh... need some thread, and you're here, I mean... it's here, in town I mean, and, um... I thought... I would come into town and get it."

_"Be still my beating heart!"_ Aeka demanded of herself.

"Uh-huh. And how did you end up at my school?"

"I, um... don't really know my way around. So..."

"You didn't think this through until you got on the bus, did you?"

Aeka shook her head, blushing with embarrassment.

"Well..." Tenchi began, "I suppose I could show you where the sewing store is."

"Thank you, very much."

"I'll bet you haven't had lunch yet, either."

"No. I barely made the bus as it was."

"Then, we might as well get something to eat on the way."

"That would be fine." Aeka agreed with a smile.

The bus began to pull past them. Several young men stuck their heads out the windows and yelled at Tenchi.

"Woo-hoo! Way to go, Tenchi! Do behave! Nice legs!"

One guy put his mouth on the window and blew outwards, making a grotesque face on the window. A large teardrop rolled down the side of Tenchi's face.

Aeka looked down and realized she had not changed back into her traditional Jurai robes. She was still dressed in earth-style work clothes. For working around the house in the summer, a sleeveless shirt and shorts were much more practical. Hence, the comment "Nice legs!". She immediately bowed and apologized for embarrassing Tenchi.

"I apologize, Lord Tenchi, for my state of undress! In my hurry to leave I... forgot to change."

"Ah, jeez, Aeka!" Tenchi told her, cringing. "You don't have to do that! People will think I'm important or something!"

Aeka straightened.

"But you are a prince of the Jurai Royal Family. Of course you are a very important person."

"Aah! Don't say that out here! Someone's gonna think we're weird!"

Tenchi quickly took Aeka's hand and led her away from the school. Several students were watching them. Some had snickers on their faces. Others looked at them like they were crazy.

Zak babbled incessantly as he led Ryoko around town. He pointed this and that out to her, oblivious to her lack of enthusiasm. For her part, Ryoko mostly ignored him. She was used to Mihoshi babbling at home and had properly developed the skill of Selective Hearing. That is to say, she was completely ignoring him.

"How much farther is it?" She asked, growing annoyed with Zak's constant talking.

"Just a couple blocks. We're almost there."

They walked in blessed silence for a few moments, before something else caught Zak's eye.

"Wow! Take a look at this! This is..."

Selective Hearing kicked in as Zak turned to the large display window. Ryoko looked around hoping to find something more interesting than whatever it was that Zak was trying to show her. Ryoko's eyes bugged out when she saw Tenchi and Aeka holding hands across the street. She watched as they talked, apparently enjoying the nice afternoon weather. Then, she noticed Aeka's outfit.

_"A little risqué for the First Princess."_

Jealousy started pumping through her veins. But, more than that, she felt a deep need to be by Tenchi's side. She wanted to feel him and touch him. She took a step into the street.

**SCREEEEEEEEEEECH!**

Tenchi looked into the street when he heard the sound of screeching tires. He saw Ryoko standing in the middle of the street with a passenger car bearing down on her.

****

CRUNCH!

His heart leapt into his throat and he felt nauseous as he watched the car's fender wrap around her legs.

Ryoko looked down and saw a meter of aluminum sheet metal wrapped around her right leg. Then she looked up into the passenger compartment of the vehicle. A heavy set man opened his window and began yelling at her.

"Dumb broad! What the Hell are you doing, jumping out in the street like that?"

Ryoko growled at him.

"Who are you calling a 'dumb broad', you fat bastard?"

The guy opened his door and got out to confront her.

"Look! I don't care if you're a super-model! Look at this damage! You're gonna have to pay for this!"

"You call that damage?" She snarled. "I'll show you damage!"

Tenchi watched the exchange from the sidelines. His first instinct had been to run into the street and help Ryoko. But when he saw that she was uninjured, he hesitated.

Ryoko put her fist through the vehicle's hood. Pulling back, she wrenched the metal from its hinges. Spinning around, she launched the hood into the sky like a Frisbee. It quickly disappeared from sight.

"Now that's damage!"

The driver gawked at her. The rubber-neckers gawked at her. Zak ran up and immediately took her side.

"Cut it out, asshole! She just had a near-death experience!" He turned to Ryoko. "Are you all right?" He asked, inspecting her for injuries.

On the far side of the street, Tenchi sighed. Once more, Zak seemed to know exactly what to do.

"Lord Tenchi?" Aeka prompted him. "Shouldn't we see if Miss Ryoko requires assistance?"

"She's fine." He told her. "Zak's there. So, she doesn't need my help."

_"Lord Tenchi..."_ Aeka could see that Tenchi was upset by the incident. He did not look angry. However, he had a very unusual look on his face. It was one she would never expect to see on his face. Tenchi looked like he wanted to cry.

"Let's go." Tenchi took Aeka's hand again, and began quickly walking away, pulling her along behind him.

Ryoko looked at Zak and saw genuine concern in his eyes. He looked really worried. It was an expression very similar to the one Tenchi sometimes wore when he was concerned for her. Tenchi! She looked for Tenchi on the other side of the street. But, both he and Aeka were gone.

"I missed him." She whispered.

"Ryoko?" Zak inquired.

She whirled around and growled at the overweight driver.

"You made me miss Tenchi!"

Both he and Zak took a step back.

"Uh-oh."

Ryoko raised her balled fists into the air.

**"RAAAAAHHHHHH!"** She slammed her fists against the car's engine block. It snapped from it's mounts and drive shaft and smashed through the street below, leaving a gaping hole in the blacktop. A moment later there was a splash as the engine hit the sewer waters below. Billowing clouds of steam englobed the area as the severed radiator hoses spewed their contents. Using the steam clouds for cover, Zak grabbed Ryoko about the waist before she could do any more damage.

"We're outta here."

He teleported away with Ryoko in his arms.

Later that day, Zak's phone rang, as it was often want to do. As was normal, Zak answered it.

"Zak's. How can I help?"

"Hi, Zak!" A young girl's voice issued from the earpiece.

"Hello, Sasami. What's up?" He jovially greeted the young lady.

"I just wanted to talk to Ryoko. Is she there?"

"Sure. Hold on." Turning to Ryoko as she sat on the couch, he wiggled the phone in his hand. "Hey, cutie. It's Sasami."

Reluctantly, Ryoko got to her feet and answered the call, choosing to ignore the "cutie" comment. 

"Yo." She answered, putting the receiver to her head.

"Hi. Um, how are you?" Sasami tentatively asked.

"Lousy. Why?"

Sasami's reply showed considerably less cheer than before.

"Well, um... I was kind of wondering... when you were coming back?" She did not let Ryoko answer before launching into an explanation of the reasons behind her question.

"Aeka's been nagging about all the food that's going to waste without you here to eat it, so I thought I would ask. That way we, um... won't... waste so much."

"Hell, I don't know. Never?"

"Don't say that!" Sasami suddenly yelled at her. "We all really miss you! Especially Tenchi! He hardly comes out of his room anymore except to eat or go to school! You have to come home!"

Anger began bubbling to the top of Ryoko's boiling cauldron of emotions.

"Why the Hell should I? What do I care about Tenchi? He doesn't want me there! He doesn't even like me! If you don't believe me, go ask your stupid sister! He probably told her all about it while they were on their date today!"

"That's not true." Sasami unconvincingly tried to reassure Ryoko.

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"No...sniffle"

"Well. There's not much point in going back, then, is there?"

"Why are you being so mean to Tenchi?" Sasami asked.

"I'm being...?!" Sasami's statement only served to remind Ryoko of what had happened to push her away from Tenchi. Her temper quickly began to get the better of her common-sense.

"He was mean to me first! I'm sick of being treated like shit!"

Ryoko could hear Sasami beginning to cry over the phone. The girl's tears reminded Ryoko of how tired she was of crying.

"Stop crying, dammit!"

WHAM! She slammed the phone back on it's wall-mounted cradle, sending a large crack streaking up the wall next to the mount. Grumbling to herself, Ryoko went back into the front room. Zak stared at her in surprise.

"What are you looking at?" She hissed and spat at him.

Just then, the upstairs neighbor, a salary-man who worked nights, began pounding on the floor.

"Keep it down! I'm trying to sleep!"

Ryoko's eyes blazed and she balled her fists.

"You want sleep?" She screamed at him, "I'll give you sleep! Permanently!"

Her chest heaved, her teeth ground together, and veins bulged from her forehead. Energy arced around her hands, making Zak think she really meant to kill his neighbor.

"Ryoko, relax! He didn't do anything wrong."

The energy arcs slowly ceased, and Ryoko's blazing eyes returned to normal. She took a deep, shuddering breath.

"I... wasn't really gonna kill him. I... just... wish it would stop." She hung her head as the tears began to flow again. "Make it stop."

Zak moved close to her. He put his arms around her shoulders and he held her in his warm embrace.

"Only time can do that." He softly whispered in her ear.

"Then go tell Washu to make time go faster. I'm sick of feeling this way."

Zak softly chuckled.

"I'll mention it to her."

Ryoko lay awake in bed when she heard Zak emerge from his bedroom. Her back was to the door, so she lay still while he went into the kitchenette. When she heard the water running in the sink, she realized he was just getting a glass of water.

Sleep had been difficult for Ryoko tonight. She had tossed and turned, trying to banish the memories of another heart-rending day, with little success. She felt restless and in need of some cheering-up. Silently phasing up through the single sheet that covered her, Ryoko righted herself in mid-air. Wearing only the sweatshirt Zak had given her to cover herself, she floated into the kitchenette, coming to a stop just behind Zak. 

He stuck a large glass under the running faucet, filling it to the top. As Zak raised the glass up to take a drink, Ryoko reached forward and slapped the bottom, intending to splash him with the contents. To her surprise, he leaned to the side just in time to let most of the water fly past his head and into her face, instead of his. It ran down her front, soaking the chest of her sweatshirt. She sputtered and rubbed her eyes while Zak laughed at her.

"Ha-ha-ha! Gotcha!"

"Bastard!" She cursed him for foiling her plan. "You're gonna pay for that!"

The water was still running in the sink and Ryoko could see the spray handle sitting innocently in it's holder. She reached for it.

"No, you don't!" Zak blocked her with his body. He set his glass in the sink as Ryoko tried pushing past him. His block was unsuccessful and Ryoko was able to grasp the handle. She immediately sprayed him with cold water.

"Ahrg!"

Zak stuck his hand out, trying to take the sprayer from her. She stretched her arm out as far as she could and continued to hold the trigger down, spraying water everywhere.

"How's it feel, huh?"

Ryoko directed the spray of water at Zak's face. He closed his eyes, and buried his face against his shoulder to block the streams of water as he continued to try for the sprayer. He could not see with his eyes closed, so he used his hand to find where it was by following Ryoko's arm. He put his hand on her forearm and quickly moved down to her hand.

"Hey! Quit feeling me up!" She objected with a growl.

"You ain't felt nothin', yet!"

Zak's hand closed on the sprayer, sending water shooting in all directions. They struggled over the make-shift weapon for a moment until Zak finally got a good hold of Ryoko's hand and wrist. His other arm slipped around her waist to hold her still.

"Now, I've got you!"

He twisted the sprayer back in Ryoko's direction. The cold shower of water hit her on the side of the head. What water that did not soak her hair, ran down and soaked her sweatshirt until it could hold no more. The remainder ran down her body. She held her left hand up between her face and the spray, keeping most of the water from getting in her eyes. When Zak saw that Ryoko was blocking her face, he redirected the spray lower, towards her chest. She twisted and squirmed, trying to free herself of the annoying trickles that ran down her body.

"Cut it --" she was interrupted by a drop of water that ran down her nose and lips. "Dammit. Stop --"

Zak sprayed Ryoko's face again when she lowered her hand a little. The water formed a rivulet that ran down her chest and stomach, then between her legs. Most of it continued down the inside of her legs to the floor. But some of it ran along the more sensitive areas of her anatomy. The sudden erotic feeling, and the excitement that it caused her, made her unintentionally clench her hand around the sprayer. The cheap plastic collapsed easily in her hand, sending the water pouring into the sink instead of down her front.

"Now that's cheating." Zak complained about her tactics.

"Use the faucet." Ryoko's intense gaze narrowed as she managed a quick recovery. "And get you hand off my ass."

"My hand's not on your ass."

"Close enough." She growled again.

Reluctantly, Zak removed his arm from around Ryoko's waist. With the hand that had previously held the now broken sprayer, he pushed down on the water faucet arm, shutting off the flow of water.

"I thought you were having fun."

One of Ryoko's eyebrows shot up in recognition. Zak's statement sounded awfully familiar, but she could not place it in her memory. Thinking about it took too much effort.

"I'm going to bed." Ryoko told Zak, excusing herself from his presence. As she headed back to her resting place on the fold-out bed, Zak spoke to her again.

"I'm sorry if I made you mad."

Ryoko's stress flowed away with Zak's apology, as she arrived at her bedside. she pulled the wet sweatshirt over her head, then used the dry area in the back to wipe herself down.

Zak took two steps out of the kitchenette before stopping dead in his tracks at the sight that greeted him. Ryoko's body was backlit by the city lights streaming in through the window. Her silhouette revealed every aspect of her well-proportioned body. He stared at her for several seconds before speaking.

"Why do you... tease me like that?"

Ryoko looked over her shoulder. She had not realized Zak was looking at her. One way to get him over it would be to smack him upside the head. But, if she went around slugging every guy that ever tossed a second look in her direction, she would never have any time to herself. Usually she tolerated, and sometimes even enjoyed, the way men looked at her. Anyway, Zak was a special case. He was the only one besides Tenchi that ever made her feel desirable. She did not want to punish him just for making her feel good. She had few enough friends as it was. Having finished drying herself, Ryoko tossed the wet garment at Zak. He caught it and held it against his chest.

"Go to bed." She instructed him as she slid between the bed sheets.

Zak hesitated a moment before answering.

"All right." He dropped the shirt on the floor.

Ryoko got a good shock when Zak tried to get in bed next to her. She leapt from the mattress, frustrated with his constant passes at her.

"Will you cut it out?!" She yelled across the bed. "Who said you could sleep in my bed?!"

"You did." He answered, settling in with his back to her. "Just now you said 'Go to bed'."

Ryoko's cheeks puffed out as her frustration grew.

"This is MY bed and you can't sleep here!"

Zak sighed.

"No, Ryoko. This is my bed. I let you use it because I don't want you to have to sleep on the floor like I've been doing for the past three days." Zak's voice rose as he continued to inform Ryoko about the truth of things. "I haven't gotten a decent night's sleep since then and my back is killing me. So, if you want to sleep on the floor, be my guest, but I'm not moving."

Ryoko was surprised at how much Zak's words stung. She had not known her presence here was a hardship for him. It meant a lot to her that he was letting her stay. Other than Tenchi, no one else had ever shown her so much kindness. A lump of guilt began rolling around in her chest.

"Sorry." She meekly apologized.

All was silent while Zak considered her apology.

"Apology accepted. Now go to bed."

Ryoko's lips twisted into a wry grin. Zak had used the same phrase she had. She could see that he was on the far side of the bed, leaving plenty of room for her. Her reluctance was not due to her being shy. But if she were to sleep in the same bed as Zak, there would have to be some conditions.

"All right. But let's get something straight. You stay on that side and I stay over here. If you try anything, I'll rip your balls off and stuff 'em up your nose. Get it?"

"Yes, Ryoko. I got everything straight."

Something in Zak's statement seemed odd to Ryoko. But she could not figure out what it was. Putting the odd feeling aside, she climbed back into bed. Just before falling asleep, she figured out what it was.

"Hey. What did you mean by 'I got everything straight'?"

Zak chuckled quietly.

"I understand completely."

"Uh-huh. That's what I thought."

TUESDAY.

Once again, it was the cursed doorbell that ushered in the appearance of a visitor. Ryoko had tacitly agreed to answer the door while Zak worked. At least it gave her an occasional distraction. Her distraction turned into a surprise when she found Aeka standing outside the door with Ryo-o-ki.

"Mi-ya!"

"What are you doing here?" Ryoko asked of Aeka as Ryo-o-ki wrapped her short arms around her leg.

"I would speak with you concerning current events." Aeka answered.

One eyebrow went up.

"What the Hell does that mean?"

Aeka sighed in exasperation.

"I want to talk to you about your behavior."

"Oh. Why didn't you just say so?"

"I did. You simply did not understand what I was saying."

"Well, if you spoke like a normal person, instead of a snooty palace girl, it would be easier to understand what you're saying, wouldn't it?"

"Rrr!" Aeka swallowed her pride so she could have the discussion she was after, rather than another argument. "May I enter, or not?"

"Yeah, sure. Shut the door behind ya." Ryoko told Aeka as she tried to make her way back into the front room. The large weight on her leg kept her from moving very far.

"Come on, Ryo-o-ki. Let go."

"Mya." Ryo-o-ki refused to release her hold on Ryoko's leg.

"She wants you to come home." Aeka pointed out.

"Yeah, well, this doesn't help."

"Come, Ryo-o-ki. Why don't we sit on the couch with Ryoko?"

"Mya." Ryo-o-ki shook her head.

Zak finally made an appearance as he rounded the corner from the other room. He took one look at Ryo-o-ki and smiled.

"Hey, Ryo-o-ki! Come here and give me a hug!"

The little bundle of energy released her hold on Ryoko and ran to give him the embrace he asked for. Zak swept her up in his arms and spun her around with a jolly laugh.

"Guess what I've got in the 'fridge?"

"Mya?"

"Let's go look." Zak said as he carried Ryo-o-ki away on his arm. As he passed the girls, he tossed them a wink.

Aeka remarked on his attitude.

"He is so flirtatious."

"Something like that." Ryoko vaguely answered as she made her way across the room. Aeka followed to the front room and sat a modest distance away from her on the couch.

"So, tell me. Why are you still here?"

"What's it to you?"

"Very little. However, Lord Tenchi has been beside himself with worry. He's become rather unsociable since you left. My sister, as well. She was so upset after speaking with you last night, that she refused to make dinner. We all had to eat instant noodles."

"The horror!" Ryoko mocked her. "Instant noodles! Oh, the humanity!" She let her head fall back on the back of the couch. "Come on, Aeka. It couldn't have been that bad."

"Regardless, you owe Sasami an apology for yelling at her."

"Bah." Ryoko turned her head away so she would not have to see Aeka. "She'll get over it."

"That is a very callous and selfish attitude to take. You should at least let Lord Tenchi know if you plan on returning. He's very concerned."

"Oh, puh-lease. He's happy I'm gone."

"How would you know? You haven't been home since last week."

"Doesn't really matter anyway." Ryoko lamented her pitiful failure. "I'll bet **you're** thrilled I'm gone. You finally have Tenchi to yourself. I saw the two of you out, yesterday. You looked like you were having fun."

"That is irrelevant."

"Oh, puh-lease. Tenchi wouldn't go out with me if I got down on my knees and begged! All you have to do is ask, and poof!" Ryoko lowered her voice to imitate Tenchi's. "'Okay, Aeka. I'll go on a date with you.' Must be frickin' nice."

As Aeka expected, despite Ryoko's injured feelings, she was still jealous of the progress she was making with Tenchi.

"Is that why you came here? Because you think Tenchi doesn't like you?"

Ryoko turned onto her stomach.

"You just can't stand the thought of someone caring about me, can you? I have to be miserable for you to be happy. Well, congratulations, Princess. I'm miserable. You must be thrilled."

"This is absurd! I am NOT trying to make you miserable! You do that well enough on your own."

"Gee, thanks."

"Well, look at you! You sit around all day feeling sorry for yourself! Do something!"

"Like what?" Ryoko spat the words out.

"How should I know? Think of something. One thing I do know is that if you sit around all day doing nothing, then nothing is exactly what will happen. If you want things to change, then you must do something about it."

"What do you think I've been doing? It doesn't work! He won't even look at me, now!"

"That's ridiculous. He looks at you all the time, just the same as he looks at me, or anyone else."

"That's the problem! He won't look at me the way I want him to! Every time I try something to get him interested, he runs away, or..." she cast an angry glance in Aeka's direction. "...you get in the way."

"Don't try to tell me you've given up." Aeka admonished, ignoring the implications of what Ryoko had just said.

Ryoko buried her face in her arms.

"I'm not the one who gave up. Tenchi is."

"Rubbish. Lord Tenchi would never give up on any of us."

"Well, he gave up on me. He told he doesn't like me and that he doesn't want to see me anymore."

"This is totally ludicrous! You're just making that up."

Ryoko lifted her head a bit so she could see Aeka's face.

"You don't believe me either. Hmph. Sasami's gonna make a great princess, someday, with such a glowing example to follow."

Aeka found that she could no longer carry on a rational conversation. The very idea that Tenchi would give up on Ryoko was preposterous. It was completely unbelievable to her. He had always been one of her staunchest supporters. For him to have done what she claimed, he would have broken his word to never forsake any one of them. Aeka got to her feet.

"I have to go."

"Yeah, you wouldn't want to pollute yourself with my presence."

"Ryo-o-ki! We're leaving." Aeka called to her travel partner.

"Myan?" Her high-pitched voice echoed from the kitchenette.

"You may return later if you wish, but I would like to return home."

"Mya."

Zak carefully set Ryo-o-ki down on the ground, so she would not drop her carrot. As Aeka approached the door, she spoke quietly to Zak.

"Zakaraia, may I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"How do you feel for Miss Ryoko?"

Surprised, he stared at Aeka for a moment before answering.

"I'm worried about her."

Aeka carefully evaluated his manner and spoken answer. It would prove important to know what was right for the current state of affairs, or any changes that may occur in the near future. No matter how much she had tried to convince herself over the last couple of days, she could not justify trying to gain Tenchi's favor if he and Ryoko were still interested in each other. However, even the First Princess had limits to her patience. 

"I see. Thank you for your honesty."

Aeka opened the door and let herself out.

"Please, have a pleasant day."

As Zak closed the door, he waved goodbye to the pair of girls. Once they were out of sight, he went to check on Ryoko. She was still slumped over the back of the couch. He joined her there and, gently placing his hand on the side of her face, he made eye contact with her. She was the first to speak.

"You didn't really mean what you said about being worried about me, did you?"

"Yes, I did."

He looked into her eyes for a moment more before placing a kiss on her left cheek. Ryoko felt a sudden surge of longing for that kind of affection, and a need for security that only physical contact could provide. Zak moved away, then turned and went back into the kitchenette. He soon returned with two cold cans of beer.

"I think you need a beer." He told her holding one can out to her.

Ryoko took the offered can. Popping the top, she quickly drained the beverage. She turned over and stared at the blank TV screen for a minute before letting loose with a titanic, soul-rattling, belch.

"Very nice." Zak complimented as he say down close to her.

"At least there's something I can do right." She joked.

THURSDAY.

Ryoko was hauling a huge bag of potato chips out of the kitchen when the phone rang. She was right there next to it. She had heard Zak answer it a million times. She knew the greeting by heart. She was feeling better.

_"Well, what the Hell."_ She picked up the phone.

"Zak's. How can I help?"

Answering the phone properly gave her a warm fuzzy feeling.

"Ryoko?" Tenchi's voice asked from the other end.

Ryoko's heart skipped a beat.

"Hey." She nervously answered.

"Um, how's it going?"

"Okay."

Zak stuck his head out of his work area to see what was going on.

"Everything's okay, then?" Tenchi asked.

"Mmm, I guess so."

"I, ah... I was wondering. When are you coming back?"

Ryoko closed her eyes.

_"Oh, please. Not now. It's too soon."_

"How should I know?" She answered.

"Please, come home."

Ryoko held her breath at Tenchi's invitation. She really did want to see him again. However, there was still pain in her heart. As long as she felt that pain, she would not feel comfortable around Tenchi.

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Why should I go back if you don't even like me, anymore?"

"I never said I didn't like you."

"Yes, you did!" She insisted, perhaps a little more forcefully than was required. Despite Ryoko's excitement, Tenchi remained calm. He knew getting into an argument with her would not solve anything.

"I said I didn't like what you were doing."

"Same thing." She said, pouting.

"I disagree. But, I'm not going to argue about that. I called for a different reason."

"What reason?"

"I'm sorry for hurting you."

Ryoko leaned her shoulder against the wall as Tenchi's kind words began to sink in.

"I... didn't mean it." She revealed. "About hating you."

"I know you didn't. It's my fault for upsetting you."

Finally, Ryoko began to feel hope, again. Hope that maybe, just maybe, Tenchi really did like her. Even the closest family members occasionally fought. Maybe she had just over-reacted.

"Please, come home." Tenchi asked again.

Ryoko thought hard about going back. But every time she thought about being back in that house, she felt pain thumping at her chest. She still was not ready to face everyone.

"I can't."

"Ryoko..."

"No. I... mean it." She felt a tear roll down her cheek as she forced the words out.

"Why won't you come back? I don't understand."

Glumly, Ryoko wiped the tear away.

"That's why." Ryoko could tell this conversation had already stretched past the point of no return. She decided to put an end to it before anything else bad happened.

"Look, Zak does his business on this phone, so I have to hang up, or he'll start missing calls."

"All right." Tenchi calmly answered her. "I guess I'll talk to you later, then."

"Okay. Um..."

"'Bye." Tenchi hung up without waiting for her goodbye.

Ryoko stared at the phone in shock. Tenchi had hung up on her, sort of. She stuck the receiver back where it belonged. For a while, she stood still as she tried to decide what had actually happened just now. Tenchi had apologized, and she had declined his invitation to return. So, naturally, he might be feeling a little angry with her.

_"Okay, relax. He's just a little pissed, that's all."_

"Hey." Zak greeted her.

"AAAHH!" Ryoko's arm swung around to defend herself from the unexpected presence. A two pound bag of potato chips caught Zak in the side of the head, sending him, and the chips, flying across the room. Ryoko stared at the blown out bag with a tear in her eye.

"My chips..."

FRIDAY EVENING.

Tenchi climbed to the roof using the ladder he had installed on his balcony. He had taken the pains to make it more permanent because he seemed to climb up here to retrieve Ryoko frequently enough to warrant it. As he cleared the edge of the roof, he saw no one. There was only a lonesome, brick chimney outlined against the faint glow of distant city lights on the cloud obscured horizon.

_"Wait a minute. When did we get a fireplace?"_ Grinning, he crept quietly towards the chimney. He peeked over the top, expecting to see cyan blue hair sticking up. There was nothing. Tenchi's grin disappeared. Unsure of what to do next, he sat down next to the chimney. He was surprised at how odd it felt not finding Ryoko sitting here.

With little interest, Tenchi examined the red bricks. He noticed something scratched against the surface. Only Ryoko would deface a fake chimney. Looking closer in the darkness, he could just make out that it was a heart. Within, it read "Ryoko loves Tenchi forever". A lump began forming in Tenchi's throat. From the other side of the chimney, Washu's voice spoke to him.

"Bet you wish she was here."

Surprised, Tenchi scrambled to his feet.

"Washu! I was, um, I mean, I just, er..." Unable to come up with a neutral answer, Tenchi sighed in resignation. "Yeah."

"Maybe she still would be if you hadn't broken her heart."

"I didn't mean to hurt her. She's just... so frustrating."

"That doesn't mean you give up!" Washu glared at him crossly. "I thought you were better than that."

Tenchi hung his head.

"You... expect too much from me. I'm no prince, or savior. I'm not a samurai or a white knight. I'm just a teenager."

Washu put her hands on her hips.

"If that's what you think, then that's all you'll ever be. Tenchi, you have great potential. You can be anything or do anything if you only try!"

"I just want to be a normal person."

"Then that's all you'll ever be; normal. Just like everybody else. Nothing special, nothing important, nothing different. Tsk. Do you think a girl would ever be interested in someone like that?"

"Sure. There's lots of girls that want a nice, normal guy."

"Well, MY girl isn't and neither is Aeka! So if you want either of them, you'd better get off your ass and do something about it! Girls don't wait forever. And as long as we're talking about girls... On my daughter's behalf, I'll tell you something. While Aeka might like living quietly in the country, my girl is restless! She needs an outlet. She teases you because she wants to get out and experience life!" Washu grinned slyly. "That includes sex."

Washu's last comment lit a fire under Tenchi. He had just said he was a teenager, and teenagers wanted to get out, as well. But he always felt like his responsibilities were keeping him tied down at home.

"I understand that, Washu. But I can't be everywhere! I'd like to have a girlfriend. That's normal! But if I start seeing one of them, the others will get jealous and make trouble! And it wouldn't be right to be seeing them all at the same time. That would be just as bad, if not worse!"

Washu stared daggers at Tenchi.

"Well, it seems you have one less girl to worry about now. If you're not careful, you'll have two less pretty soon."

"That's not fair, Washu! Don't my feelings count, too?"

Washu looked at Tenchi in surprise. She mentally readjusted her respect level for Tenchi back up a notch.

"Oh, so you do have feelings? How come you never show them?"

"I..." Tenchi hesitated. "I don't know."

"Bull. Just like anyone else, you're afraid, Tenchi. You're afraid to get hurt." Washu examined him for a moment. "Ryoko has never been afraid of anything. She has never had any reason to be. She's never been hurt before. At least, not until a week ago."

A breeze caught Washu in the face. Her long red hair waved back and forth as she closed her eyes, feeling the wind in her face. She spoke again, opening her green eyes.

"Ryoko needs to be free, not cooped up, out of sight and out of mind. She loves you, so she's tolerated this guilded cage you've locked her into." Washu gestured at the house below their feet. "Now that being in this house brings her pain, she may not want to live here."

"What should I do?" Tenchi asked of Washu.

"That's for you to decide, Tenchi. But, I'll tell you something. I'm pretty sure Zak's in love with her. He knows how to treat a lady, and I doubt Ryoko would have gone to his place if she didn't like him."

"I know." Tenchi did not like the idea that Ryoko had feelings for someone else. "I know."

Washu started slowly making her way to the ladder at the roof's edge.

"Maybe you should apologize." She suggested.

"I tried that." Tenchi told her. "I called her and apologized. I practically begged her to come back! It didn't work."

"A phone call?" Washu looked at Tenchi with disdain. "Try harder."

As she started down the ladder, her voice echoed off the wall of the house.

"Flowers never hurt." Washu tried to remember the last time she had received flowers. "Girls like flowers."

Tenchi thought about Washu's suggestion.

"_Flowers, huh?"_

FRIDAY NIGHT.

Ryoko suddenly lurched upright from the bed, sweating bullets and breathing like a racehorse after the Kentucky Derby. She was very glad she had decided to shed the sweatshirt before sleeping, tonight.

"Damn it!" She complained, trying to calm herself in the aftermath of her nightmare, as she clutched the sheets to her chest.

"Bad dreams?" Zak asked from his side of the bed.

Ryoko did not bother to answer. She just threw herself back down, making the rickety foldout bed moan and creak.

"Shit! I'm so sick of it!" She complained, propping a forearm over her eyes. "It's always the same stuff: death and destruction for as long as I can remember. I wish it would all go away."

"Is that why you tried so hard with Tenchi? Are you so desperate to have a normal life without your past?"

_"Is that it?"_ She thought. _"Is that why I've been holding on so tight?"_

Despite her moment of self-reflection, there were no answers tonight, only empty images and emptier hearts.

"I don't know. I just don't know anymore."

Zak rolled over so he could see the person he was talking to.

"You can have what you want. You just have to work for it."

"Tsk. 'Fraid I'm not very good at holding a job."

"Heh. I didn't mean that kind of work. What I meant was you get out of life what you put into it."

"Then I might as well kiss my ass goodbye, huh?"

"Come on, Ryoko. Don't you have a dream?"

"Yeah. Tons of 'em. They all suck."

"Oh, bullcrap." He said, sitting up on an elbow. "Even you have to have a dream. Isn't there something that makes you smile just thinking about it?"

For a long time, Ryoko lay, silently living with her pain. Once, she would have answered without hesitation. Now, she was reluctant to even speak. Thinking about her nearly broken hope and cracked dreams nearly brought her to tears. She took a long and deep breath to stabilize herself. Then she tried to say the word. But it would not come out. She turned away from Zak, avoiding his question, rather than trying to force an answer from herself that would not come. This time, it was Zak's turn to remain silent for a long time.

"You can still find love."

In response, Ryoko quoted an old enemy.

"Who could ever love a monster like me?"

**SMACK!**

Zak slapped Ryoko on the rear. She flipped over, onto her knees, ready for a fight. The sheets fell to the mattress, revealing her naked body to Zak.

"What the Hell was that for?!"

"Don't ever call yourself a name like that!"

"Why not? I was created in a lab by a mad scientist! Shit! I don't even know which one! I was just a thing to them! A tool for someone's sick pleasure! I killed and burned and... and... all sorts of things! I..." Ryoko hung her head in shame. "I... don't deserve love."

"Yes, you do. Everybody deserves love, especially someone who's never known that feeling." Zak reached out and took Ryoko's hand. She looked at the fingers clasped around her hand. Slowly, her fingers curled around his. She risked a quick glance up and saw Zak's hopeful smile.

"You're so beautiful, Ryoko. I can't believe you don't have guys breaking down the door just for a chance to look at you."

Ryoko kept completely silent. The walls she kept between herself and Zak were beginning to crumble. His words were sweet and his tone soothing. She wanted nothing more than to give herself to the moment and quit the fight that raged quietly within. But that would never happen. Though he could hold her and ease her anger, though he could coo to her and make her smile, though he could stare at her and make her feel desirable, he could never ease the guilt she felt for everything she had done in her life. Only Tenchi could do that.

"About your dream..." Zak began. "I'll make you a deal. Go out with me tomorrow night. If, after that, you're still not interested, I promise I won't try anymore."

Ryoko, smirked, not at all convinced.

"Not that it'll ever happen, but, what if I do get interested?"

"Then you have to give me a fair chance. But, if not, you probably shouldn't stay too much longer."

"Put out or get out, is that it?" Ryoko snorted.

"No, it's not. I just... like you too much not to try."

Ryoko found she wanted to succumb to his charm. His words of support always made her feel better. Zak's next comment lightened the atmosphere a little.

"Besides, I wouldn't want Tenchi to get jealous."

Ryoko turned her face away to hide the smile that suddenly broke free.

"Yeah, right. Like that'll ever happen."

Zak returned her good-natured humor.

"Either way, I want you to have some fun, okay?"

Ryoko heaved a huge sigh.

"All right. I'll... go out with you."

Zak squeezed her hand.

"You'd better take me someplace exciting or I'll be pissed." She warned.

"I know the perfect place. You won't regret it."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll believe it when I see it." Ryoko released Zak's hand before she laid down, facing away from him. To his surprise, the young lady laid down with her back against his chest. She then pulled the sheets up to her armpits.

"You're sober, right?" She asked.

"Yeah..."

"And you remember what'll happen if you try anything like last time?"

"Damn right I remember."

"Good."

As Ryoko cuddled back against him, Zak found the temerity to put his arm around her waist.

"Is this all right?"

"Is what all right?"

"Never mind."

SATURDAY MORNING.

Late the next morning, it was Zak's doorbell that was the "Gong of Doom". When he opened the door, he found Tenchi, with a very serious and sincere expression on his face, bearing a bouquet of flowers.

"Tenchi." He stated, rather surprised that Tenchi would actually show up like this.

"Is Ryoko here?" Tenchi asked.

Ryoko emerged from the kitchenette with a sandwich on a small plate. She wordlessly handed the meal to Zak, while keeping her gaze on the flowers Tenchi had brought with him.

"Thanks." Zak said as he accepted the sandwich. "I guess you two probably want to talk. Um, I'll go work on something in the other room."

Tenchi's hopes began to sink when he saw Ryoko and Zak acting so casual with each other. The way she presented Zak with his sandwich reminded Tenchi of a wife feeding her husband. When he noticed Ryoko eyeing the flowers, he remembered he was intending to present them to her.

"Here." Tenchi held them out to her. "I, um... I... brought these for you.

Much to his relief, Ryoko smiled and accepted his offering.

"What's the occasion?"

"Uh..." Tenchi suddenly remembered his manners. He took a deep breath, then fell to his hands and knees, begging her forgiveness.

"I'm really, really, really, sorry for hurting you. Please forgive me."

Ryoko gazed at Tenchi prostrating himself before her and immediately forgave him for every trespass he had ever committed. Her impassive expression softened as she gently inhaled the soft fragrance of Tenchi's gift.

_"My Tenchi brought me flowers."_ Ryoko began to smile again.

"Sasami's right. You are silly. You comin' in, or what?"

"Not until I've been forgiven." Tenchi insisted from his place, face-down on the floor, outside the front door.

This time, when she smiled, Ryoko felt more like her old self. Tenchi had a tendency to get a little dense when it came to women. So, she decided on a more direct way to demonstrate her acceptance of his apology. Kneeling down in front of him, she placed her fingertips under his chin and pulled his face up until it was level with hers. Their eyes met for a moment. Then, she kissed him on the end of the nose. Without waiting to see his reaction, Ryoko stood and went looking through the cupboards for something to put her flowers in.

"How about this? Twice in one month. I must be getting popular."

WHAM!

Tenchi hit the floor with his face.

"That isn't funny, Ryoko!"

"Then do something about it." She told him as she located a plastic bucket beneath the sink.

Tenchi's response would have been very effective if he had chosen to voice it. But, wary of over committing, he kept it to himself.

_"I'm trying."_

Flowers followed water into a yellow plastic bucket. The bucket stayed on the countertop.

"So." Ryoko asked, turning back to Tenchi. "Did you want to talk about something?"

Tenchi finally managed to make his way inside. He addressed the question as he removed his shoes.

"Uh, yeah. I guess there is. Um..."

"Let's talk outside." Ryoko suddenly suggested.

"Huh?"

She took Tenchi's hand in hers. The room flashed by and Tenchi found himself outside on the fire escape.

"I wish you'd warn me before you do that."

It was the ten millionth time he had mentioned this to Ryoko. She ignored his comment, concentrating instead on the feel of the late Spring breeze rustling her hair. Tenchi rarely allowed himself to take a long look at any of the girls. But despite himself, he found he was looking anyway. Ryoko reached up and brushed her hair back, revealing her long ears. She felt some of her old cockiness returning when she looked over and saw Tenchi staring at her.

"I thought you didn't like looking at me."

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

"I only wanted some privacy."

There was not much Ryoko could say to that.

"I wanted you to see my new outfit."

"I saw it, all right."

"Did you like it?"

"I've never seen anything like that before. I didn't know what to think."

"So, what do you think now?"

"It was... very revealing."

Ryoko gazed intently at Tenchi, as if trying to discern something that resisted discovery.

"Too revealing?"

"Yes." Tenchi confirmed.

"Is that what you thought when you found your dad's porno mags?"

Tenchi turned bright red.

"How... did..."

Ryoko giggled again.

"You brought them to my cave, remember?"

Tenchi nodded with embarrassment. Ryoko continued the trip down memory lane.

"Do you remember what you did while you were looking at those pictures?"

"Aw, come on! I was a curious teenager!"

Ryoko moved closer to him.

"From what I remember, you were more than just curious."

"Ryoko, what does this have to do with anything?"

"I know you like looking at naked women. So how come you won't look at me when I'm naked?"

"Because, you'll want me to do more than just look."

"That's the whole point! I want you to do more!"

"But, I'm not ready for that!"

"You liked those girls in the magazines enough! Why don't you want to do that with me?"

"Ryoko, those were just pictures. You are a real person. If we get that close, and later, I find someone else, it'll hurt a lot more than those things I said."

In an act of incredible bravery, Tenchi took hold of both of Ryoko's hands.

"Ryoko, listen. You're plenty enough attractive for me."

Ryoko's head came back up, a hopeful expression on her face.

"But, I can't afford to make a mistake about this. It's just as important to me as it is to you."

"It's been two years." Ryoko pointed out.

"I know. I'm sorry I've been keeping everyone waiting for so long. Things have been so crazy. I've hardly had a moment to stop and think about these things. But, I do know that I've missed you this past week. We've all missed you and we want you to come home."

"Tenchi..."

After a few moments of silent contemplation, Ryoko slumped against Tenchi's chest. She thought about going back for a long time while leaning against him. Though her heart still ached over what he had said to her a week ago, she still loved him more than anything. The pain within her heart had significantly lessened over the days spent away from Tenchi. She could actually think rationally about what had happened between them.

Then there was Zak. She had promised to go out with him, tonight. She had no idea what he was planning for tonight. But if she knew him, it would be big. She was actually looking forward to it. If she went home now, it would mean breaking their date.

Ryoko fought within herself for several minutes without resolving the conflict. Eventually, she was able to reach a conclusion by shutting off her internal dialogue and going on nothing but her feelings.

"I'll think about it."

"What?"

Ryoko pulled away to see what damage she had unwillingly wrought. Tenchi looked crushed, but she stood firm. Now, she was the one who needed time to consider her feelings.

"Don't look so sad, my Tenchi. You'll make do with a stuck-up princess for a while."

As she stood in front of Tenchi, Ryoko noticed something different about him.

"By the way, who said you could get taller than me?"

Tenchi did not answer. He just let his head rest back against the side of the building as he looked over Ryoko's head at the cloud filled sky.

"Tenchi?"

Still he did not respond.

"Cut it out, Tenchi. You're freaking me out."

Tenchi finally heaved a huge sigh.

"I understand." He said, looking at her once again. "But, I'd like to ask you something."

"Okay..."

"Are you happy here, with Zak?"

Ryoko's eyes went wide with surprise. A moment later, she grew a face-splitting smile. Laughter issued forth from her throat as he arms snaked around Tenchi's neck.

"If my Tenchi gets anymore jealous, he'll turn green."

"I am not jealous." Tenchi insisted as Ryoko pressed her body against his.

"Are you sure?" Ryoko asked, only a centimeter from his face. She inhaled, getting a snootful of Tenchi's scent. His pheromones quickly intoxicated her mind. Unable to contain herself, she began nuzzling his neck.

"Tenchi..."

Tenchi's arms went around the trim girl's waist, embracing her tightly.

"I'm sorry, Ryoko. I really am."

When Ryoko felt Tenchi suddenly put his arms around her, a surge of passion rushed through her body. She nearly gave in to the sudden urge. But, recognizing that Tenchi would not be very understanding if she were to suddenly rip his clothes off, she broke away. Tenchi was a little surprised when Ryoko suddenly pulled away. He watched as she took a step back. Ryoko stared back at him, desire practically dripping from her features.

"You... are lucky." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to steady herself. "If you don't go home now, I don't think you'll get there."

Tenchi's eyes went wide.

"Ah, okay..."

Ryoko reached out and placed her fingertips on Tenchi's chest. There was a moment of disorientation, then they were at Tenchi's home. He always felt weird when Ryoko teleported him somewhere. This time he felt weird because Ryoko was undressing him with her eyes. Her hand began to entangle in his shirt. Tenchi quickly reached up and disentangled her hand from his chest area.

"Um, okay. I'm going in, now." He announced.

"You do that." She advised him.

"I'll see you later?" He asked, holding her hand.

Ryoko finally looked away, feeling guilty that she could not yet grant his request.

"Tell Sasami I said 'Hi'." She offered instead, withdrawing her hand.

"Please stay."

Ryoko shook her head, though she did crack a bit of a grin.

"Thanks for the flowers." She said as she took flight. "'Bye."

Tenchi watched as Ryoko flew off back towards town. For a while he just stared at the pale sky. Finally, resigning himself to the fact the Ryoko really was not coming home for the time being, he went inside. Immediately upon entering, he was assaulted with questions about the temperamental space-pirate.

"How'd it go?"

"Where's Ryoko?"

"Is she coming home?"

"Did she like the flowers?

"What happened to your shoes?"

Aeka was silent.

Tenchi swept his gaze across the room.

"Well, she did like the flowers."

Aeka chose this moment to speak.

"She's not returning, is she?"

"She said... she'd think about it."

There were a couple sounds of sympathetic disappointment.

"I, um.. I'm... kind of tired, so I think I'll go get some rest. I... have to practice with Grandpa before dinner."

The girls watched as Tenchi went up to his room. As soon as he was out of sight, Washu hit Aeka on the head with a rubber mallet.

"Ow!" Aeka complained, rubbing the egg on top of her head.

"That was low, Aeka."

"Really, Aeka! That was pretty mean." Mihoshi agreed.

"Well, excuse me! It's not my fault Ryoko is so selfish!"

SMACK!

"OW! Will you stop that?"

"I'll stop when you stop."

"It's the truth!"

**POW!**

"But Mommy, I don't want to go to school today!"

**SLAM!**

END CHAPTER 4.

AFTERWORD: I know this seems kind of like a rehash of the old "Ryoko's in heat" story, again. But I always felt taking it to that extreme was a going a little too far. This seems a bit more within the realm of probability. Think of it this way. Why would Washu create a being which could not control it's sexual impulses? There is a logical explanation. Read the next chapter to find out.


	12. Passion

****

INVASION Volume 2, Part 5: Passion.

DISCLAIMER: Tenchi Muyou! is copyright AIC/Pioneer, LDC. I do not own or claim any rights to the series or characters. However, this story is entirely a product of my imagination. So, please do not change it! Other than that, feel free to distribute as widely as desired.

FOREWORD: Just like everything else in Ryoko's life, has anyone bothered to tell her what is right and wrong? In the absence of objective guidance, don't you think she would do whatever felt right?

BEGIN CHAPTER 5.

Up in the trees, there was not much chance of anyone noticing Ryoko. From this spot, she had watched Tenchi depart many times to go practice with his grandfather. As she observed him for the umpteen millionth time, she thought of the way her emotions had been running away from her lately. Previously, she had only felt lustful around Tenchi. But now, the feeling took her whenever Zak got too close. If she let him touch her for more than a few seconds... She shivered just thinking about it. Never had she felt desire like this for another man. Something was wrong and she needed to find out what it was before she went out with Zak tonight. Assured that Tenchi was no longer in the house, Ryoko went to talk to Washu. Thinking ahead as she took off into the air from her perch, she sent a mental warning to her self-appointed mother.

_"Hey, Washu. Open up, will ya? I'm coming for a visit."_

"About damn time!" Washu sent back. _"Everybody's been worried sick!"_

_"I doubt it."_

"No, really. Everybody."

Ryoko considered this for a moment.

_"Even Aeka?"_

"In her own way."

"More like she's worried I'll come back and take Tenchi from her."

"Mmm... that too."

Ryoko phased through the different levels of the house as she approached the entrance to Washu's lab. She managed to avoid being detected until the lab door shut behind her.

Sitting in the main room of the house with a hot water bottle on her head and nursing a monstrous headache from the beating she had just taken, Aeka heard the door shut. She turned to see what was going on, but no one was there.

"Great." She muttered. "Now I'm hearing things."

__

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Washu asked as Ryoko floated between various mechanical and electrical devices she did not care to think about.

"I think something's wrong with me."

"What gave you that idea?"

Ryoko blushed a bit, as she tried to communicate the details of her recent increase in libido.

"I, um... I always... felt a certain way around Tenchi. Lately, I've been feeling that way around, um... other guys."

Washu chuckled at this tasty bit of gossip.

"Oh. So, what you're telling me is that you've been getting really horny lately?"

Ryoko cringed.

"It's no like that! It's not like I'm going around trying to get some! It's just... whenever Zak gets close I..." Ryoko sighed. "I like it." Her face grew redder. "A lot."

To Ryoko's dismay, Washu did not seem particularly interested in her problems. She was still tapping away at her terminal as she answered.

"Have you considered the possibility that you're attracted to him?"

"No way!" Ryoko vehemently denied. "I can't like him that much!" Her expression soon softened. "Can I?" 

"Why not?" Washu offered.

"I... um..." Ryoko could not come up with an answer. Although she said nothing else, her look pleaded for an explanation. Washu finally turned to her and gave her the attention she wanted.

"Let me clue you in to one of the secrets of the universe. Guys like girls. Girls like guys. It's a fact of life."

"I know that much." Ryoko complained. "Tell me something I don't know."

"I'm getting to that. No matter how much you love Tenchi, you will still feel attracted to others guys. What you do about that attraction is up to you."

From Ryoko's expression of dismay, Washu could tell she was not very satisfied with the answer. She decided to throw her daughter a bone.

"But, since there is a possibility that something might be wrong, it's a good idea to have a check-up."

A reclining chair suddenly appeared behind Ryoko.

"Take your clothes off and have a seat."

Ryoko tentatively began removing her clothes.

"No robots?"

"No robots. You'll need to feel comfortable for the tests to have accurate results. But, there will still be a needle."

Ryoko's face scrunched up with displeasure.

"I hate needles."

Washu could not help a small smile from appearing when she saw how silly Ryoko's face looked.

"I know, dear. But there may be a chemical or hormonal imbalance in your system from something you ate or inhaled. A scanner doesn't have the resolution to pick out the difference between some of the chemicals in your system."

"Well, invent one, then!"

Washu suddenly sat up straighter.

"You know, that's not a bad idea! I'll work on it when I get some free time. But for now, you get stuck."

Ryoko groaned as Washu approached with the rather large needle that she had just conjured. She made sure to sit down before letting her use the wicked-looking device. While it did not actually hurt to have her fluids drawn, she simply did not like the feel of a piece of metal sticking in her arm. She made sure to look away as she felt the small prick. Her discomfort lasted only a few seconds.

"There. All done." Washu confirmed as she moved away with the syringe.

Ryoko gave Washu the hairy-eyeball as her so-called doctor returned the sample to an automated sample analysis device. Washu stuck the needle into a rubber-sealed sample chamber and squirted the contents inside.

"Okay! Let's see what there is to see."

Tapping away at her keyboard, Washu watched as the results of the analysis were presented to her, one chemical at a time. She pulled up a similar list of the last time she had run this test. A pattern immediately began to form.

"Hmm."

"What?" Ryoko asked.

"Not sure, yet. I need to run a physiological response test to match against the chemical analysis."

Ryoko rolled her eyes.

"Huh?"

"Oh, don't worry." Washu assured her. "You'll like this test. All you have to do is sit there and think."

"That's it? Then why did you make me take my clothes off?"

"Some of the, ah... results are subtle and would be unmeasureable if you had your clothes on. The sensors are in the chair, so you won't be distracted by too much visual stimuli. Lie back and try to relax."

Suspicious, Ryoko did as she was instructed. Washu called up her systems analysis screen and began to monitor Ryoko's internal workings, such as emotional and physiological responses to specific thought patterns. As she set up the analysis programs, she issued the required instructions.

"Okay. I want you to think about hot guys."

"What?!" Ryoko sat up.

"Relax!" Washu insisted.

Ryoko grumbled to herself as she laid back again. Washu began explaining what she meant once Ryoko was fully reclined, once more.

"You said you were concerned about your reactions to men. So I have to know what's going on inside before I can say for sure if it's normal or not. Think about anything that turns you on. Anything except Tenchi. Save him for later."

Ryoko took a deep breath before even attempting what Washu was asking.

_"And they say **I'm** weird."_

Washu watched as the real-time readings on the bar-graph rode the expected baseline level. On the display were two additional, horizontal lines. One indicated the hypothetical levels Ryoko should normally attain, and the other, higher line, indicated the levels Washu was hoping to see. Each bar on the graph indicated an emotional or physiological response. What she had not told Ryoko about was the visual monitoring she was doing through the mental link. She watched the bars move upward as Ryoko replayed her memory of some time spent with Zak on his couch one evening.

The bars climbed steadily in an expected pattern. The bars for pleasure, lust, and, surprisingly, guilt were highest. Also present, but at a reduced level, was joy. As they moved into the region between the two lines, the bars for lust and guilt continued to climb, while joy began to slowly sink. Pleasure stayed about the same.

On the far right was a circle that changed between white and black, depending on the overall emotional balance. White stood for positive feelings like love, while black indicated negative feelings like hate. The circle was slightly more white than black. Overall, Washu had to conclude that Ryoko liked the interest being shown her, but she felt intensely guilty about it, probably due to her feelings for Tenchi.

Suddenly, the bars jumped, and the visions stopped as Ryoko voiced her opinion on the experiment more forcefully.

"This is stupid. Let's just forget about it, okay? It's not that important, anyway."

"Yes, it is important." Washu explained. "I need to know if your responses are working the way they're supposed to. I designed you, so I know what the baseline readings are. But, as you grow, the responses will grow with you. I can predict what they may be, but this is the only way to determine if the responses are in tune with your body's growth. If there's something wrong, I need to know about it before it becomes a serious problem."

Ryoko stared, wide-eyed, at Washu's lengthy, but, for once, understandable explanation.

"I believe you may have begun your final growth stage. That includes physical and emotional growth. Unfortunately, because of that bastard Kagato, your emotional growth is lagging behind your physical growth. At this point, your body is signaling to you that you're nearing physical maturity by increasing your sex-drive. It's your body's way of saying 'I'm ready to reproduce.' Your mind's just not up to the task, yet."

"Reproduce? Kagato said I can't do that."

"And you believed him?"

"Well, sorry! It's not like I had someone around to tell me about that stuff."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Ryoko regretted it. Washu might not have been there for her, but she was probably the only person in the entire universe willing to claim the position of her mother. 

Washu looked back at the display, unsure of what else to do except bury herself in her research, just like she always did. As she stared at the display, she noticed it was registering again. Guilt held steady at the second line.

"I... um, didn't mean it like that." Ryoko quietly told her.

"I know." Washu stoically replied. "I want you to lie back and relax. This time, think about Tenchi."

Ryoko did as she was asked without comment. Washu watched as the bars moved around. Guilt quickly reduced while other positive feelings rose. The images Washu received were of when Tenchi went to see Ryoko at Zak's this morning. She was pleased to see Tenchi had taken her advice about the flowers.

The guilt index that had stayed so high, previously, was right near the bottom. The circle quickly turned almost totally white. The bars for lust, security, anticipation, pleasure, and joy rose steadily until, in the replaying memories, Ryoko stuck her face against Tenchi's neck. Security stayed about the same, while the other four shot to the second line and stayed there. Washu smiled as the memory began to turn into fantasy. Without a word, she hit the buttons that made a privacy shield go up around the examination area. She set the computer and visual monitors on record, then went for a snack.

_"Ah, to be young and in love, again."_ Washu thought, recalling the time she had shown Tenchi her adult body. _"The look on his face..."_ She cackled in amusement.

"What are we doing here?" Ryoko asked as she and Zak took their places at a small table within the dance club he had chosen for their date.

"Well, generally people come here to drink, dance, and have fun." He answered, sitting opposite from her. "I thought you might like something like this."

"And what gave you the idea I wanted to go dancing?"

Zak knowingly smiled.

"Because, out on the dance floor, you can totally let go and do almost anything without anybody saying a thing about it."

"Anything?" Ryoko skeptically asked.

"Almost." He clarified.

Ryoko was not too happy about this. Although it sounded like it could be fun, she had neglected to tell Zak she could not dance. Of course, she was not about to admit such a failing unless absolutely necessary. Drinks would do for the time being.

"Get me a drink, would ya?"

"Sure. Anything in particular?"

"Something strong, and plenty of it."

"You got it. Be right back."

Ryoko took a moment to look around at her surroundings while Zak was away. There was a lot of people. Loud music pounded away from the dance floor. There were televisions spread about, but most people were ignoring them. There were also a couple of billiard tables at one end of the establishment. Zak soon returned with two tall beverages of dubious content.

"Here we go." He presented one to Ryoko.

"To fun." He offered a toast, sitting across from her again.

Ryoko grinned mischievously.

"Fun." She agreed before draining her drink in one draught.

Zak chose to drink his in a more dignified manner.

"Wow." He expressed his opinion on the potent mix. "That was... not weak."

"What's the matter? Can't take it?"

"Of course I can take it. It just caught me by surprise, that's all."

"Oh, yeah. Sure."

"Come on." Zak stood up, holding out his hand. "Let's dance."

"Eee!" Ryoko quickly searched for an excuse to avoid the activity. "No way! There's, um... too many people."

"Too many people?" Zak repeated, looking out at the dance floor. "There's plenty of room." When he looked back, Ryoko seemed to be looking everywhere but at him. He grinned.

"I get it. No problem. It's easy enough to learn. But, it's best to start out slow."

"What's so funny?" Ryoko asked, seeing that Zak was privy to something she was not.

"Nothing's funny. I'm just looking forward to this, that's all."

Ryoko blushed.

"Looking forward to what? I'm not dancing."

"Not yet. I'll be right back."

Zak took off for who knows where.

_"What in the Hell is he planning, now?"_

Within five minutes, Zak returned, holding two more drinks of the same kind as before.

"Ask and ye shall receive. Two drinks, and a slow dance, coming up. It's amazing what you can do with a couple thousand yen."

"Oh, yes." Ryoko sarcastically remarked. "Bribery works really well at a small-time joint like this."

"Yes, it does." He agreed.

Ryoko began draining her second drink. Zak suddenly grabbed her wrist and carefully pulled her hand and drink away from her mouth.

"Enjoy your drink." He strongly suggested, releasing her wrist when she glared at his hand.

"What's the point? I can't taste it."

"You could pretend. Besides, you can smell, right? Try that. Smell the fruity aroma."

Ryoko looked at him like he was weird, then she said as much.

"You're weird."

"Why, thank you!"

Ryoko hit the table with her forehead, causing Zak to laugh.

"That wasn't a compliment!" She yelled at him.

"I know. But it makes me laugh when you do that."

The DJ came on the speaker system to explain the details of the next set of music.

"Okay, ladies and gents. We're gonna take it down a notch so some novices can get the hang of the way we do things around here."

There were a couple of boos.

"Yeah, I know. But the guy greased my palm, so what can I say? Good luck to ya, pal."

Now it was Zak's turn to hit the table with his head. Ryoko laughed accordingly. Recovering quickly, Zak grabbed Ryoko's writ again and literally pulled her from her seat.

"Come on, you. If I get embarrassed, then so do you."

"Hey, wait! Let me finish, at least!"

Ryoko downed her drink as Zak dragged her to the dance floor. She carelessly tossed the glass into the crowd, knocking some poor schmoe in the side of the head. When he finally got her on the dance floor, he began issuing instructions.

"It's simple. Take a quick look around."

Eager to get this silly game out of the way, Ryoko did as Zak told her. When he put his hands on her hips, she slapped her hands over his.

"Hey, you!" She gave him another suspicious look.

"Relax. Now put your hands on my shoulders. Just follow my lead. As long as we don't step on each other's feet, we're good."

"You gonna try anything?" She asked, still suspicious.

"I don't think so. We're in public."

Reluctantly, Ryoko did as he said. It took her a few seconds to adjust her movements to follow Zak's, but soon she was moving in a similar fashion.

"See? Too easy." He complimented her.

Ryoko was amazed at herself. She was really dancing. Taking a look around to see how the people around her were doing, she noticed most of them were dancing much closer together than she and Zak were. When she looked back to him to ask about that, she saw he was intently staring at her.

"What?"

"You're very beautiful."

"Don't say that!"

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because you like it?"

Ryoko's face turned red.

"Mmm-hmm. If you don't mind, I'd like to kiss you."

"No!" She refused, even though her face was turning redder by the second.

Zak groaned in disappointment.

"Could we at least dance close?"

Her eyes narrowed.

"How close?"

"This close." Zak answered, closing the distance between them.

Ryoko became completely flustered when she felt Zak press his body against hers. His arms went completely around her waist, holding her tightly.

"There. Isn't that better?" He spoke into her ear.

"No." Ryoko lied, hoping the tingling sensation in her body would stop soon.

"Oh. Maybe like this, then."

Zak relaxed his strong grip around her waist. Ryoko began to breath a sigh of relief as he gave her a little of her personal space back. But, instead of letting her go, he put his hands on the back of her hips, just above her rear, and just below her waist.

Ryoko took a deep breath as she tried to evaluate how she felt. It did not feel too aggressive, but it was still difficult to decide whether she wanted to let Zak touch her there. After several seconds of indecision, Ryoko began to relax. Her eyes drifted closed as she took a another deep breath to restore her somewhat skewed sense of emotional balance.

"Is this what you had in mind?" Zak asked her.

"Would you shut up?" Ryoko replied, annoyed that he had intruded on her moment of relative tranquility.

Zak voiced his thoughts on that by giving Ryoko a kiss just in front of her right ear. She turned her face away so he would not be tempted to try to kiss her on the mouth.

"Remember what happened the last time you tried seducing me?" She reminded him.

"I'm sorry. I made a bad decision. It was way too soon to be trying something like that. I apologize for... acting that way with you."

Zak's assurances assuaged Ryoko's feelings of impropriety. Sighing, she let her arms rest on his shoulders.

"Yeah, well... just... shut up and dance."

_"Stupid jerk."_ She thought to herself._ "Why are you being so nice to me?"_

Despite her earlier reluctance, Ryoko decided dancing close to someone actually felt pretty good. All she had to do was move her feet around a little without stepping on his toes. Zak's hands roamed only a little, never straying far from the sensitive area on her backside. She found that if she allowed her feelings to flow normally without thinking too much about it, she did not stress out as much.

When she felt Zak place another kiss on her ear, she did not bother telling him to stop. He would probably just talk his way around her, anyway. He was pretty good at that. Besides that, she knew how good it would feel if he moved to her neck.

Eventually Zak's kisses did find their way to that area. Ryoko stretched her neck out the same way a cat did when someone scratched behind it's ear, showing him where she wanted his affection. She sighed with disappointment when Zak started talking again.

"You like that, don't you?"

Despite her annoyance, Ryoko almost answered Zak's question with the truth. Fortunately, she managed to catch herself in time. Unable to think of any excuses for her behavior, she kept silent. Zak was quick to accept her silence.

"That's okay. You don't have to talk. Your hand is talking for you."

Ryoko realized her left hand was stroking the back of his neck.

"Will you shut up?!" She hissed, growing tired of all the chatter. If he would just remain silent, she thought she could relax enough to let him do the things he wanted without getting uptight about it. She was trying to unwind and have fun. But every time she began to relax, he would say something to embarrass her.

This time Zak got the hint. He quit talking and let her relax. They danced silently for a little while longer before he tried kissing her again. She was just starting to warm to his advances, when the slow song was replaced by pulse-pounding dance music.

Zak kept his arms around her hips, holding her close as he moved faster. The new pace was not too fast, but it was fast enough so that slow-dancing was impossible. Ryoko was nearly swept away as Zak moved faster, taking her along for the ride.

"What the Hell!" She complained, pulling back far enough so she could at least see who she was dancing with. It was difficult for her to keep up since she had no dance experience what-so-ever. The activity had always seemed like a waste of time to her, so she had never bothered to learn.

"Try to keep up, if you can!" He challenged her over the loud music.

Zak's challenge did not go unanswered. Ryoko's gaze narrowed and she bared her fangs, showing him she was up to it. Again, relaxation seemed to be the key. The more she tried to keep up, the worse she did. Eventually she got the idea that if she let Zak lead and kept herself ready to move, she could keep up with him. When she figured out his movements kept time with the bass line in the music, it became much easier to stay with him. He soon noticed her growing dance skill.

"You learn quick." He complimented her. "Washu would be proud."

She stuck her tongue out at Zak, making him laugh.

"All righty, then! Try this on for size!" He challenged again, pulling her body against his, once more.

When she felt Zak moving against her front, Ryoko starting thinking she might be in trouble. She quickly found she had to match his movements absolutely or she would get thrown off her rythm. It took her a second to adjust, during which time their legs had a tendency to bump together. Zak's grip on her hips had the effect of guiding her in the right direction, allowing her to mimic him more easily than she could if he were not touching her. Still, it was not all easy. Having him so close to her was very distracting.

"You're getting pretty good at this." Zak complimented Ryoko on her performance as he moved his hands up to the sides of her ribcage.

Ryoko stared into his eyes, wondering what it would take to discourage him, or if she even wanted to discourage him. The way he was touching her excited her, just as Washu said it would. The advice she had received from the scientist was still fresh in her mind. The problem was, she did not really know what she wanted to do about it. She knew she was not in love with Zak. Only Tenchi held that place in her heart. But, the way he was making her feel left her with no choice except to admit to the truth.

_"Okay. I like the guy. So, now what? It's not like I really want him. I just... like how he makes me feel."_

Zak pulled her tighter against his chest.

_"A lot."_ Ryoko amended as her breath quickened. _"I wish Tenchi would come on to me like this. Of course, if I stay with Zak, he won't have the chance, will he?"_

Sighing, Ryoko pushed Zak a little further away. To her surprise, Zak backed off, putting about a meter of space between them. He watched her twist and move on her own for a few moments before he tried to speak over the music.

"Do you want to be alone for a while?"

Ryoko felt relief flood through her system.

"Yes." She yelled back.

Zak gave her a rueful smile as he slowly backed off of the dance floor.

Ryoko continued to dance on her own. Her apparent transition to single status did not go unnoticed. Single men began to gravitate towards Ryoko, forming a loose ring around her. She paid them little attention, disregarding their hungry stares and knowing smiles. A small grin on her lips was the only hint of her appreciation of their attention. She began putting more emphasis in the movements of her hips and chest, flaunting her well-formed body, as if daring them to try gaining her attention. There were a few whispered words of approval as she displayed herself to the men.

A delightfully funny idea suddenly sprang into Ryoko's mind. The only requirement for this evening was that she had to have fun. Her idea would definitely qualify, at least from her point of view. In addition, it had the added side-effect of letting her know exactly what guys on this planet thought about her. Playfully, she engaged one of the other men in conversation.

"You like what you see?"

"A lot!" Her new dance partner answered.

"Want to see more?"

"Yes!" He shouted over the music.

"You think they want to see more?" She pointed a thumb at the other prospective dance partners.

"Hell, yes!"

A full-fledged smile finally broke out on Ryoko's face as her old playfulness and daring began reasserting itself.

"I'll be right back!" She announced before heading for the restroom. On her way, she swept an unattended drink from someone's table without anybody noticing. She drained it before reaching her destination and set the empty glass on a different table.

The door to the ladies' restroom swung open with a push, and closed behind her, muffling the intense music from without. Ryoko took a moment to look at herself in the mirror before deciding on what outfit to change into. The one she was wearing now was fairly conservative for her. It showed little of her body except when she happened to squat or sit. Then the cut of her dress would allow her legs to show. The little bow-tie was a cute touch, but it just was not enough for tonight. She wanted to knock everyone's socks off.

It took her a minute to decide on the right outfit. It was one she had not worn in quite some time. But it would have the intended effect. She disintegrated her current outfit without removing it, with the exception of her white panties. Standing in front of the restroom mirror in nothing but her panties, Ryoko conjured the replacement outfit in her outstretched hand, ready for wear.

She put on the black stretch-top first. It was basically a tank-top, with a large open diamond shape in the middle that showed all of her cleavage. Next on was the white overtop. It resembled a sports-bra in how it covered her chest. The lower portion of her cleavage was now hidden from view, but it also emphasized the size of her breasts by contrasting with the black above it. Intricate needlework called even more attention to her ample attributes.

There was only one piece left now: the gold blouse. It was reversible, with the inside being purple. But she usually wore it with the gold outside, since it matched her eyes. Ryoko pushed her arms through the oversized shoulders and out the blue-trimmed short sleeves. She wrapped the blouse around her chest and found the red sash that kept the material tight about her waist. She grasped it and tied a quick knot in it, cinching it in place. The best thing about this blouse was how the front hung so low, it covered nothing of her chest. The open hem hung below her breasts, framing them in the same blue trim as the sleeves. More of the red sashes ran over the shoulder and under her arms, framing her chest and arms. Looped through an eyelet at the bottom-outside of each sleeve hung a red kerchief.

One would expect there to be a dress or skirt with this outfit. Of course, this being one of Ryoko's outfits, there was none. Instead, the gold blouse simply hung down her front and rear, giving only a slight nod to common decency, rather than adhering to conventional fashion. Since the sides of the blouse stopped at the waist, her panties were clearly visible at the top of her hips. In addition, if she were to move quickly, the hanging material would swish to one side or the other, revealing even more of her hips and panties. And, of course, the outfit made no effort to hide her well-toned legs.

_"Now this is a party dress."_

The restroom door opened as Ryoko admired her handiwork. The young woman entering took one look at Ryoko and immediately caught her breath.

"Wow! That's a great outfit! Where's it from?"

"Rostafaria." Ryoko answered without thinking.

"That must be European."

"Nope."

"Where can I get an outfit like that?" She asked.

"They don't make it anymore."

"Oh, poo." The girl cursed.

"But, you really like it?" Ryoko asked.

"Oh, yes! It's really sexy!"

Ryoko's smile grew broader.

_"Okay, Mom. Time for a little experiment. Let's see what guys really think about me."_

"Here I go." Ryoko announced.

"Save some guys for me!" The girl begged.

Ryoko cackled to herself as she exited the restroom. As soon as she began the walk back to the dance floor, men began dropping their jaws to the floor. Exclamations of wonder and appreciation reached Ryoko's ears, reinforcing her rejuvenated feelings of self-confidence and attractiveness. Jealous girls smacked their boyfriends to regain lost attention. Single men jabbed their friends, and pointed her out to them. Phrases like "Dear, God!" and "Look at her!" were repeated over and over as she found Zak seated once more at their table, two drinks ready for consumption. He looked up and nearly fell to the floor.

"Dear, God, Ryoko! You..."

"Oh, come on. Everyone's saying that. Come up with something original."

Zak's mouth worked for several seconds with no resultant sounds. He soon gave up on that line of speech.

"Ryoko, there are no words to express how beautiful you look."

Ryoko blushed deeply with pleasure and embarrassment at such high praise. Never in her entire life had anyone ever said she was indescribably beautiful. She quickly took one of the drinks and began sucking it down to hide her embarrassment. Zak took the opportunity to begin working on his own drink. He was not even half done when Ryoko thumped her glass down on the table.

"Not done, yet? I guess I'll have to dance with someone else." She turned and went back to the dance floor, not bothering to wait for him.

Zak began taking huge swallows, trying to finish the drink so he could dance with the incredible woman that was suddenly the center of attention.

Ryoko reentered the dance floor and quickly found the guy she had spoken to earlier, still moving around the general area she had vacated in order to change. His broad smile and roving eyes clearly showed how much he appreciated her appearance. She stopped just inside his reach and began moving with the beat. She swayed and wiggled, showing him what she was about. She flaunted how little she was wearing by twirling around, intentionally causing her outfit to spin up and give everyone around a good showing. The guy she was dancing with quickly moved in. His hands went to her hips and he pulled her close, making her match his movements and rythm.

"Ooh. Aren't you aggressive." She melodramatically observed, slipping her arms around his neck.

"We should get together." He told her.

"I don't know..." Ryoko made as if she were reluctant, while watching over his shoulder for Zak to approach. "I don't usually go home with guys I don't know."

"Then let's get to know each other."

He tried to pull her hips against his, intentionally angling his leg so she would end up riding his thigh. Ryoko refused to move closer, simply holding her position just long of where he wanted her. Casting another glance over his shoulder, she saw Zak watching them, jealousy plainly evident on his face. She smiled.

"Is that the best you can do?" She taunted.

The guy began fondling her rear. He groped and squeezed, hoping to convince her to submit to his will. Ryoko did not particularly like having her rear groped in such a fashion. But, in the interest of entertainment, she let him pull her fully against his body. When he tried to kiss her, Ryoko turned her head, making him miss. His lips found her neck, instead. Her eyes closed as she found she did not have to fake her interest quite so much as before. Regardless, she made sure to stay just above his thigh, keeping it from making contact with her more sensitive areas. As their bodies continued to pay homage to the beat of the music, someone tapped the guy on the shoulder right near Ryoko's face. She opened her eyes and saw Zak with an incredibly stern look on his face.

"Piss off." Her dance partner said.

"Excuse me, buddy." Zak insisted. "The lady's with me, tonight."

Ryoko stuck her rear out to keep the guy interested. She could smell a fight brewing and wanted to see how far the two of them would take this. As she expected, the guy continued his advances while defending his claim to her.

"**Was** with you. Now she's with me." He responded, sticking his hands into Ryoko's panties.

"HEY!" She suddenly yelled, jumping away from him.

Zak did something that she missed, and the guy simply collapsed. He promptly hauled the unconscious man away while Ryoko pulled her panties back up to their customary position just below her waist, rather than the new location of just below her rear. Amused by Zak's jealousy, Ryoko smiled.

_"Now **that** was funny! Who's next?"_ She quickly scanned the dance floor, looking for contestant number two. She caught sight of someone on the other side of the floor staring intently in her direction. Pushing her way between the wriggling bodies she found the man she had seen a moment ago. He was a little older than the first guy, but that probably meant he was more experienced. She smiled, and went through the pretenses of dancing up to him until she was just in front of him. They stared at each other for a few seconds.

Ryoko suddenly remembered seeing a couple dancing front to back earlier. She turned around and backed up until she made contact with the man. His hands went straight to her hips and he held her tightly against his body. He began to lower himself, pulling her along with him. With their bodies so low, Ryoko discovered she had to keep her legs wider to maintain enough balance to keep from falling over.

As soon as she had her base, she felt his hands roaming all over her body. He kept up the pretense of dancing, while exploring her, especially her hips and thighs, where she was more sensitive. As her body began to respond to his advances, Ryoko realized that Washu had not been exaggerating about how she would feel. She let her head roll back when she felt her partner's breath against her neck. He understood what she wanted and began kissing her neck. However, when she felt him press his hips against her rear, she began to feel a little uncomfortable with such an aggressive display.

Smiling coyly, Ryoko began to disengage herself from him. While she did like knowing she was so greatly desired, she did not want to encourage the guy to the point where he tried something like what the last guy had done. She leaned forward, separating her back from his chest. She allowed him to continue holding her hips, but only as a dance. She moved back and forth and around, leading him in the steps she was rapidly becoming more accustomed to.

The guy relaxed his death-grip on Ryoko's hips enough to let her separate herself fully. As she moved, his hands ventured up and down her sides and back. Now that there had a little distance between herself and guy number two, she felt more in control. Looking around, she spied Zak making his way through the crowd. She decided to test his interest in her again.

Ryoko stepped back against her dance partner and allowed him to wrap his hands around her hips again. This time he was not quite so suggestive with his movements. But still, it felt wonderful to have him touching her so freely. Zak soon made his way to her. When he saw her dancing with yet another man, he did not hesitate to intervene.

"Do you mind?" He asked the second guy in a strong tone of voice.

"Yes, I do." The man behind Ryoko answered. "But since I saw what you did to the last guy, I guess I don't have much choice."

He disengaged himself from Ryoko, but not without a farewell.

"Thank you for the dance."

"Sure." She offered noncommittally.

As soon as the person was out of sight, Zak moved in close to Ryoko, taking advantage of her apparent willingness to dance close. He stared at her for a while before speaking. She stared right back, daring him to stay something.

"Who were they?"

"Just guys." She answered.

"You were dancing pretty close for them to be 'just guys'."

"So?"

He just looked at her for a few moments.

"You're teasing me!"

"Well, duh!" Ryoko cracked a big smile. "You're so easy, I couldn't help it!"

Zak shook his head in amazement.

"You are truly amazing."

"Well, you said I had to have fun tonight. So I am."

Zak took the plunge, and reached for Ryoko. She did not so much as bat an eyelash when he took her by the waist and pulled her to him. Her arms went around his neck while she watched his face.

Ryoko kept her expression unchanging as they danced. Soon, she felt his hands move to the place on the back of her hips where he had touched her earlier. Even though she felt a flush of excitement go through her body, she kept her face immobile. Through three songs he gently rubbed the back of her hips. Despite the intense desire he was making her feel, Ryoko somehow managed to maintain her neutral outward expression, showing only a small smile that indicated she was sufficiently entertained.

"Wanna take a break?" Zak asked at the beginning of the fourth song.

"What's wrong? Can't hang?"

"I can hang, all right. I just feel the need for a drink."

"Is that all?" Ryoko's sly smile spoke more than her words.

"Heh. I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere!"

"Wuss."

Ryoko managed a short moment of self-reflection while letting herself go on the dance floor. She was glad she had agreed to go on this date. It was giving her a chance to exercise some self-control over her new-found lust. Washu had said she would feel strong urges from now on when a man, any man, came on to her. As an added bonus, she was not only having fun, but, she was getting to work off some stress through exercising. She felt more relaxed right now, than at any other time within the last month. Soon, Zak called to her from the edge of the dance floor. She looked to see what he wanted.

"Lookie here!" Zak called, holding up two drinks.

Ryoko crooked a finger at him, indicating he should join her with the drinks. Zak shook his head.

"No drinks on the floor!" He shook his head while quoting the warning sign that was posted nearby.

Ryoko pouted her lips, then turned away. Zak began drinking from one of the glasses he held while watching Ryoko dance. Her hips swayed back and forth, teasing him with small flashes of white from time to time. It did not take long for another man to come up to her.

"Hey." He greeted her.

"Hey, yourself."

"What's your name?"

"Ryoko."

"Do you mind if I get a little closer?"

She shook her head, smiling. Guy number three moved close, but not directly against her. His fingers gently played over the exposed skin of her hips.

"I like your outfit." He told her.

Ryoko's smile brightened to something more genuine. The way he modestly touched her was not overly aggressive like the first two guys. But it still excited her to feel him against her bare skin. His hands soon came to rest, simply touching her in a manner appropriate to the activity.

"Is this your first time here?" He asked.

"Yes, it is." Ryoko politely answered.

"I thought so. I've never seen you before. Are you here with someone?"

Ryoko almost laughed at his ill-disguised interest.

"I came with a guy. But he's more interested in his drink than with me."

"That's not right."

"No, it's not."

"We could go somewhere else."

"Oh? And what would we do someplace else?"

"Anything you like."

"What if I want sex?"

He ran his hands over her rear.

"Maybe."

Ryoko kept her sight focused on her partner, intentionally avoiding looking at Zak as he approached. For a few seconds, she got to see his self-satisfied smirk as he revealed his baser desires to her. Then, Zak threw him across the dance floor.

"The next guy that touches my girl gets an ass-whoopin'!"

The dance floor quickly cleared out. The music stopped and the guys he had previously thrown out suddenly converged on the scene, confident that the three-on-one advantage would prove sufficient to defeat their more skillful opponent.

The club bouncers also converged on the scene, intent on keeping order in the establishment. The violence-prone young men would, of course, have to be thrown out. Seeing that her fun was about to be disrupted, Ryoko threw her arms out in mock fright, catching two of the three bouncers in the head. They fell to the floor, stone cold unconscious.

"I'm scared!" She cried, wrapping herself around the third bouncer, who tried, unconvincingly, to remove the nubile young woman from his person.

"Come on. I've got a job to do!"

"Isn't your job to protect me?" She offered, batting her golden eyes.

"Huh?" He blinked in confusion for a moment before breaking out into a great big smile. "Why, yes. Yes, it is! Come over here. I'll see you to a very private, I mean, protected place." He began to lead Ryoko away to a dark corner he knew of.

The three angry young men charged Zak. He deftly avoided the first attack and clubbed the attacker in the kidney. The second attacked and also got a punch for his effort, this time in the liver. He went to his knees. Not waiting for the third attack, Zak used the fallen opponent for a stepping stone and jumped, head-first, over the third guy. Zak somersaulted in mid-air and landed neatly behind his third attacker. His heel sliced through the air at head level, catching his opponent in the mouth just he turned around. Teeth went everywhere, and the fight was over.

The first two guys took off, and the third took his sweet time getting up. To his surprise, he found the bare legs of the cute girl whom he had been so interested in a few moments ago. Ryoko looked down at him as he crawled to his feet, holding his mouth. Their eyes met just before Ryoko hauled back and clocked him. Whatever teeth he had left went flying.

"That's for groping my ass!"

Zak briefly inspected her handy work.

"Hmph. What took you so long?"

"Eh, what can I say? The bouncers weren't decent opponents."

"Will I do?"

Everyone looked to see the new opponent who emerged from the gawking crowd. He confidently strode to the guy laid-out on the floor and nudged him with his foot.

"My little brother never thought much of the lessons I offered him. Too bad for him."

"Yeah, well, he should've kept his hands to himself." Zak explained.

"You were a little aggressive for a simple groping."

"Be happy." Ryoko snickered. "I was considering electrocution."

"Know your role, and shut your mouth." He told Ryoko as he turned to focus on Zak.

Ryoko gaped at the insult for a second before deciding to initiate a little wall-to-wall counseling session with this one. She tapped him on the shoulder.

"What now?"

WHAP WHAP POW!

The fourth and final opponent landed at Zak's feet, unconscious. Ryoko cracked her knuckles and winked.

"Anyone else?" She asked.

There were various denials of her invitation.

Since the sounds from outside were no longer obscured by the music, the wail of police sirens could be heard. Apparently, the manager had alerted the local authorities of the altercation.

"Time to go." Zak offered Ryoko his hand. She took it, and then they disappeared.

Ryoko hated to admit it, but she had had a lot of fun. Zak had taken her to dinner at a nice restaurant, followed by drinks at a night club. She had learned how to dance, and had had a ton of fun teasing the poor guys on the dance floor. The bar-brawl afterwards had been perfect.

Of course, they had had to leave the club to avoid the cops, but that was cool since they went to a more low-key bar after that. Her superior eye-hand coordination had won them enough money at billiards and darts to keep them in drinks for the night.

Sometime after two-thirty in the morning, they stumbled in the general direction of Zak's apartment, arm-in-arm, and laughing themselves silly. When he suddenly pulled her into a dark alley, she thought he meant to try something naughty. Instead, he only teleported them both back to his apartment.

"What? Are we done already?" Ryoko asked. "Light-weight."

"Everything's closing-up. I thought we could have our own party."

Ryoko's gaze narrowed in suspicion.

"That depends on what kind of party you want."

When Ryoko felt Zak rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand, she remembered he had not yet released her hand. The small gesture seemed to indicate he was thinking of a more romantic kind of party.

"You're drunk." She accused.

"Yes, I am. But, hey, at least I didn't drink and drive."

"Yeah, right." When she looked at Zak's face, Ryoko noticed he was looking at her in a very significant way. She blushed a little bit.

"Don't look at me like that."

"Why not?"

"I..." Ryoko's voice stuck. She did not have an answer she could safely give. Telling Zak the truth, that she liked when he looked at her this way, was out of the question. When Zak's free hand moved to her face, Ryoko tried to intercept it. Somehow, he got there first. She had to settle for a verbal warning.

"Don't do that."

"I have to tell you something."

Ryoko suddenly got very worried.

"Don't you dare." She clamped her eyes shut, trying to block Zak out of her mind. "Don't you DARE!"

"I love you."

There it was. The one thing Ryoko had been waiting for years to hear. Her heart pounded to hear those words. Words that meant she was special to someone. She wanted so much to hear Tenchi say that to her. Instead, it was Zak who was saying it to her. For a week, he had given her everything she had ever wanted, except for the most important thing in her life: Tenchi.

When Zak's face brushed against her bare cheek, Ryoko knew he wanted to kiss her. The hand within hers shifted and his fingers intertwined with hers. She clamped down on the hand, giving vent to her wildly rampaging feelings. As Zak's breath passed over her face, he gently tilted her chin up with his hand. Ryoko's rampaging emotions drove her on, demanding she return his affection in kind. As his face approached hers, she closed her eyes. At the first touch of their lips, Ryoko's mouth opened. Continuing the motion, she could manage only one, small, breathless word.

"Tenchi..."

Zak paused. It was enough for Ryoko to remember it was not Tenchi she was with. Her self-control reasserted itself in full force. She slammed the brakes on and stepped back, completely separating herself from Zak.

"No." She refused his advance more forcefully.

"Don't you like me?" Zak asked her.

Something clicked in Ryoko's mind. The question bounced around inside her head, jogging something loose. It was the same question she had asked Tenchi that night over a week ago. They were all things she had said to Tenchi. Now Zak was saying those things to her. Maybe that meant he felt for her, the same way she felt for Tenchi. If that were true, then maybe she was feeling the same way, now, as Tenchi did whenever she came on to him.

"Ryoko?" Zak asked after she failed to respond for several seconds.

Ryoko's lips turned upwards into a wry grin. She cursed herself for a fool.

"I am so stupid."

"And you're saying I'm drunk?" He continued to stare at Ryoko with concern. "Are you all right?"

Ryoko addressed Zak in a more controlled and understanding manner.

"Yeah. Look, I wasn't really sure whether I was going to stay or not until just now. I want to go home."

Zak did not look happy with her decision.

"Please stay."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

Zak's face twisted with displeasure.

"You sound like Tenchi."

Ryoko realized he was right. It was exactly what Tenchi would say. Now she knew for certain this was how Tenchi felt about her. Although it was not what she really wanted, Ryoko was pleased to finally figure out something important about Tenchi. She even smiled, knowing things would be less complicated from now on. She looked Zak straight in the eyes.

"I guess I do. But I'm still going."

"Ryoko, I really need you to stay."

"Uhn-uh. I love Tenchi, not you." Without warning, Ryoko bolted through the back wall of the apartment building. She tossed him her standard farewell on the way out.

"'Bye!"

**"RYOKO!"**

Something about Zak's cry gave her pause as she flew through the air. He sounded really upset. Ryoko drew on her new-found revelation to consider his feelings. If he felt for her the way she did about Tenchi, then maybe he was feeling the same way she had felt when Tenchi had told her off.

Coming to a stop, Ryoko looked back at Zak's apartment building from her position in the night sky. A pang of guilt stabbed through her heart. This was the second time she had left a guy behind for Tenchi. But, this time, as weird as it felt to admit it, she actually had feelings for him. Because she still wanted to be friends, she would probably end up seeing him again at some point. However, if she just left, he might not want to be friends anymore. Ryoko closed her eyes as she considered what to do.

Zak stood alone in the middle of his apartment. Ryoko was gone. Now he had no choice. Things would be more difficult from this point forward. As Zak mentally reviewed his plans, the room dimmed slightly. Someone must be standing in front of the window. Ryoko spoke from behind him.

"Zak?"

He turned to hear what Ryoko wanted to tell him.

"Everyone's always saying how I should, um... be more grateful for what they do, and that I should say 'thank you' more." Ryoko slowly floated around the couch to stand before him. Zak noticed she seemed nervous about something.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

Ryoko shook her head.

"I just... want to say 'thank you'. So, um, thank you."

Zak's gaze turned from concern to one of absolute appreciation and kindness. It was just enough encouragement for Ryoko to accomplish her objective in returning. She threw her arms around Zak's neck and pulled his face to hers, passionately kissing him. Zak had no difficulty recovering from his initial shock, even going so far as to hold her tightly against his body. Ryoko made sure it was good, but not so good Zak would think she had reconsidered going home. After a couple of minutes, she pulled away, smiling.

"Not a word to anybody."

Zak bowed deeply.

"My lips are sealed."

When he straightened, Ryoko was gone again. This time, he did not feel so bad, even though it still would not change his plans any. But at least he knew Ryoko liked him. As Zak's thoughts returned to implementing his secondary course of action, he felt a tightening in his chest.

_"Dammit, fool."_ He berated himself. _"You're not supposed to fall for the target."_

Sasami was glad when Sunday finally arrived. Since no one had to be up early on Sundays, she could also sleep in. When she awoke and smelled something cooking, she thought she had miscounted the days and overslept.

Quickly changing out of her night clothes and into day clothes without waking Aeka, Sasami hurried downstairs. She went straight to the kitchen to see what was going on. Upon entering, Sasami was shocked to see Ryoko trying to cook. When Ryoko heard the kitchen door swing open, she looked over her shoulder to see who had joined her in the kitchen.

"Hey! What's up?" She smiled at Sasami.

Getting over her initial shock, Sasami rushed to give Ryoko a hug.

"Ryoko!" She cried, wrapping her arms around her friend's ribs.

Seeing her friend again gave Ryoko a really good feeling inside. She ignored the frying eggs to talk with Sasami.

"Are you back, now?" Sasami asked her.

"Yup." Ryoko gave her a thumbs-up.

"Finally!" Sasami released her hold. "Now maybe Tenchi won't be so depressed, anymore."

Ryoko took special note of what Sasami had just said.

"Tenchi was depressed?"

"Are you kidding? He spent the entire week avoiding everyone. When he wasn't at school, he was working in the fields or up at the shrine. He really missed you."

Ryoko blushed just a bit. She certainly was not displeased to know Tenchi had missed her so much. However, she had desperately needed some time away. It had worked out in the end. Now she was back to stay. The spitting food in the frying pan next to her gave Ryoko an idea.

"Hmm. I know!" Ryoko shared with Sasami. "Tenchi gets pissed when I wake him up. So, why don't you go upstairs and tell him breakfast is almost ready."

Sasami giggled mischievously.

"Okay!" She ran out of the kitchen to get Tenchi, giggling all the way.

A minute later, there was a tremendous ruckus upstairs. Someone could be heard thumping down the stairs with all due haste to reach the first floor. Ryoko set Tenchi's glass of milk down just before he came rushing into the kitchen, wearing only his boxers. She greeted him with a smile.

"Good Morning! Breakfast is ready."

"Ryoko!" Tenchi exclaimed, smiling broadly. "You made breakfast?"

"Yup! Go ahead. Eggs and bacon. It's a little greasy, but, hey, what do you expect when -- urg!"

Tenchi suddenly embraced her in a huge hug. Ryoko's face turned bright red. She was usually giving hugs, not receiving them. After a moment, he released her. He just looked at her appreciatively for a moment before turning his attention to the meal she had prepared for him.

"Eggs and bacon, huh? Well, why not?" He pulled up one of the two kitchen stools and sat before the central counter. Utilizing the chop-sticks that were provided, he bravely picked up a piece of bacon and put it in his mouth. As he chewed, Tenchi found that the bacon strip was just as it should be, greasy and salty. It tasted like bacon.

"It's good!" Tenchi complimented her.

"Really?" Ryoko smiled brightly as she watched him devour her cooking.

"Yeah." Tenchi answered as he began working on the eggs. "But, when did you learn to cook?"

Ryoko stopped dancing around the kitchen when Tenchi asked her about the how of the meal she had prepared for him.

"Hmm... Well..." Ryoko's smile mutated into a sly grin. "I took Aeka's advice. She said I should get off my butt and do something, rather than sitting around being depressed. So I learned how to cook." She turned to the short cook of the family. "What do you think, Sasami? Do I have a future as a cook?"

"Well, it's a good start." Sasami offered. "I could show you some other dishes, if you like."

"That'll be cool. Then Aeka can't complain that I never do anything around the house."

The door to the kitchen swung open, admitting Mihoshi into the small room.

"Something smells good." She said with her nose up in the air.

Sasami explained about Tenchi's breakfast.

"Ryoko made breakfast for Tenchi."

"Really? That's so sweet! I was wondering what you were doing all week long."

Ryoko and Sasami fell over.

"Could someone pass the salt and pepper, please?"

END CHAPTER 5.

AFTERWORD: I felt really good writing the conclusion to this chapter. Kind of a warm fuzzy feeling, ya know? There's more to come. Things get very tangled soon.

I also want everyone to know I did not write this chapter as a response to input from readers. It was planned this way from the beginning. Although, I did pay more attention to the details.


	13. Intimacy

****

INVASION: Volume 2, Part 6: Intimacy.

DISCLAIMER: Tenchi Muyou! is copyright AIC/Pioneer LDC. I claim no rights to it. However, the events in this story are entirely of my own imagination. So please don't change or copy them. Feel free to distribute this story as widely as desired.

FOREWORD: This is way cool. I came up with the idea of the Funaho granted vision last of all the scenes in this volume.

AUTHOR: Dreamr

LAST REVISION: 2 August 2002

EMAIL: TrueDreamr@Hotmail.com

BEGIN CHAPTER 6.

The "Gong of Doom" echoed throughout the Masaki home. Everyone was already in the house, celebrating Ryoko's return. Even Aeka seemed to be in good spirits, though she claimed it was from relief that Lord Tenchi would no longer be so morose. Sasami went to get the door. When she opened it, she found Zak, with two large boxes, a medium-sized gift box, and a strange, curvaceously shaped case.

"Oh, hi, Zak." She loudly announced. The house suddenly became strangely quiet.

"Hello, Sasami. Ryoko left some things behind, so I figured I'd bring them out to her." He paused for a moment before continuing with a rueful smile. "And, I didn't want anybody to think there was any hard feelings, so I brought some stuff for the party."

"Oh, well, that's nice. But, how did you know we were having a party?"

"Come on. Ryoko just came back after being gone, unexpectedly, for over a week. There's going to be a party."

Sasami scratched the back of her head and smiled.

"Ah, yeah, I guess you're right. Well, come on in. We're just getting started."

Speech began to resume within the main room. Ryoko was the next person to greet the visitor.

"Hey, Zak, what's..." She noticed everything he brought. "all that stuff? What are you, planning on moving in or something?"

"Ah, no. However, you did leave this behind." He held out the medium-sized white box.

"Is that...?" Ryoko suspiciously eyed the box.

"Yes, it is. You keep it. Besides, what am I supposed to do with it?"

"Give it to somebody else." She suggested.

"No way. It won't fit anybody else." He told her with a smile.

"I'll take that as a compliment. So what's all this other stuff?" She asked, accepting the box from him.

"Party stuff. Give me a hand bringing it in?"

Ryoko gave the boxes a cursory examination. She knew the shape of the largest box that had a vinyl cover and handle, as well as the curvy box. Those were a guitar and associated amplifier. The other she could not identify.

"What's in there?"

Zak phased an arm through the top of the box and withdrew a bottle of sake.

"Like I said, party stuff."

Ryoko grinned.

"Yup, that'll work." She went right to the case of sake and hefted it with little effort. She turned and brought it into the main room.

"Lookie what I got!" She announced to everyone.

Zak laughed, shaking his head. He squatted down and grasped the handles of the remaining two boxes, then picked them up. The doorway was a little narrow to accommodate such a wide load, but that was no problem for him. He phased the boxes along with himself until the restriction was passed. Carefully kicking off his shoes, he took the short route through the wall, again by phasing, and set the items down on an open area of the floor.

"Hi, everybody."

He was cordially greeted by the assembled members of the family.

"Are you planning on offering entertainment this evening?" Aeka inquired.

"Something like that." He cryptically answered, sitting on top of the amp. "I learned a couple of days ago that Ryoko could play the guitar. She's pretty good at it, too."

"So what if I am?" The girl bluntly asked.

"Well, I remember how peaceful and relaxed you got after just a couple minutes of playing."

There was a couple of giggles as Ryoko grumbled something about him revealing her personal secrets.

"So, I thought 'What better way to bring peace to a troubled heart, than through music.'"

"'Music to sooth the savage beast.'" Aeka quoted.

"Who are you calling a savage beast?" Ryoko aggressively asked her.

"If you don't like it, then prove me wrong."

"Fine." Ryoko answered as she approached Zak. "Let's set it up."

"Just a minute." He held up a hand. "I'm not done."

Ryoko looked at him with curiosity evident on her face.

"I got this guitar and amplifier for you, because I know you like to play and it'll do you some good to have an outlet."

"Is that all?" Ryoko asked, managing to hide how she was truly feeling from prying eyes.

"No. But the rest is... personal."

His statement finally managed to crack Ryoko stony facade. Her face turned a little pink. Slowly, she turned and looked at Tenchi, seeking permission to accept the gift.

"Stop." Zak suddenly demanded. Ryoko looked back to him to see what he wanted.

"What now?"

"Just one thing. I don't mean to be rude or disrespectful to Tenchi. But, you don't need his permission. Make up your own mind and choose for yourself what you want."

For a moment, Tenchi thought about giving Ryoko his okay on the subject, anyway. But his grandfather's hand on his shoulder stopped him. Katsuhito held a finger to his pursed lips, indicating he should remain silent.

Ryoko stood mute for several seconds while her thoughts and feelings bubbled and churned within her. Since she was at the point where she actually trusted Zak somewhat, she found she could intentionally avoid looking at Tenchi as he had told her to. Staring at the floor gave her a blank area to fix her gaze on.

"_He's right. Tenchi doesn't make the decisions for me. It's my choice. If he doesn't like it, then tough."_

She adopted a haughty pose with her hands on her hips and gave Zak a stern, yet playful, look.

"It's kinda hard to play if you're sitting on the hardware."

Zak smiled, then got up off the amplifier. He kindly knelt down and removed the vinyl cover for her, revealing a used, but serviceable, electric guitar amplifier. It took Ryoko exactly two minutes and forty seven seconds to get everything set up, including the guitar itself, which was red with sparkles mixed in with the metallic-looking paint. She clicked the power button on, resulting in a thump sound issuing from the speaker contained within the amplifier cabinet.

"Okay! What should I play first?" She asked of her impromptu audience.

There were a few sounds of indecision as someone tried to come up with a suggestion.

"Whatever you want." Zak told her.

"As long as it isn't too loud." Aeka qualified the suggestion.

"Not too loud, huh? Okay, I know something not too loud, but still pretty cool. Try this!"

Ryoko launched into the hard-rocking song, Cautionary Warning, from an animated series she had been watching of late, Kacho Ouji (Black Heaven in the US). The song she had heard was very short, only thirty seconds or so. So she let the robust sounds trail off without a definite ending.

"I said NOT too loud!" Aeka complained, holding her hands to her ears. "There's no need to have that thing turned up so high! We're all right here, not on the other end of Japan!"

"Quit your whining. It's only on four, and it goes all the way to ten."

"Then play something normal, rather than that head-banging nonsense!"

"Oh. You mean something like this."

In a demonstration of versatility, Ryoko played the same song she had played for Zak the other night.

"Yes. That is exactly what I was referring to. Much better."

Ryoko just smiled at Aeka, satisfied that she was doing something everyone seemed to like. She took her time, making sure to play without making any mistakes. When she finished the song, everyone clapped their appreciation.

"Ahh! That was fun!" She said with a smile, setting the guitar on top of the amp before turning the set off. It made a few weird sounds as she moved the guitar from her hands to its resting place.

She quickly found her way to the snack table and snagged a bottle of sake from the open crate Zak had brought with him. She tried to ignore the huge smile Zak had on his face as he stared at her.

"What're you lookin' at?"

He declined to answer.

About three hours later, Zak noticed that Ryoko was missing. He circumspectly broached the subject with Tenchi's father.

"You'd thing Ryoko would attend her own party, rather than ditching to go do something else."

Nobuyuki took a look around the room.

"Well, since Tenchi's still here, she probably hasn't gone far. She's probably up on the roof."

"What's she doing up there?"

"Who knows? Getting drunk, I'll bet."

"Hmph. I'd better go get her."

With that, Zak flew straight up through the ceiling. As Nobuyuki had suggested, Ryoko was on the roof, sitting behind the false chimney. Making his way around the chimney, he sat down to her left. Ryoko took a long pull from a nearly empty bottle of sake.

"How come you're not at the party?"

"Mmm, just thinkin' 'bout some stuff."

"Good stuff or bad stuff?"

"Don't know, yet. That's why I'm think', see?" She explained before draining what was left in the bottle.

"Hmm. What I see right now is that you're getting drunk."

"So what if I am? It's my choice, right? Every one's always sayin' I'm not 'sponsible 'nuff. I was tryin', though. Guess I'm not good at that stuff."

"You're good at playing the guitar." Zak offered.

"Guess so." Ryoko said, sneaking a side-long peek at Zak. The way he smiled at her was always warm and inviting. She quickly looked away.

"So, do you like your gift?" Zak tentatively asked.

Ryoko closed her eyes as Zak's question made her chest tighten. That was exactly what she had been thinking about when he had arrived on the roof to see her. His gift meant a lot to her because of the insight it showed into her feelings. Somehow, he had touched her significantly enough that she wanted to show her appreciation in a more direct way.

But, then there was Tenchi. No matter how much she was starting to like Zak, she still loved Tenchi more than anyone. Anything she did with Zak would only end up hurting Tenchi more than she had already hurt him by staying away for so long. Ryoko found herself in the unenviable position of having to choose between her growing attraction to Zak, and her already well-established feelings for Tenchi. She thumped the back of her head against the faux chimney.

"Damn."

That gave Zak a pause. Taking a moment to look around at the dimming light on the horizon, he decided to ask about something that he had been wondering about all day.

"Ryoko, the deal was, if you weren't interested in me, I'd lay off. Last night, you left without saying how you felt about me. I understand about Tenchi. There's nothing I can do about how you feel about him. But, as for me, I think I deserve to know."

Ryoko considered giving her answer on that subject. She knew what the answer was, and if she gave it, things would continue until she really could not resist him any more. If she cut Zak off now, then she would stay faithful to Tenchi.

"It's not fair!" Ryoko blurted out. She smacked her skull against the chimney again, breaking a couple of bricks loose. They fell into the opening and hit the roof tiles with a clack of stone on clay.

Zak looked at Ryoko in surprise as she struggled with the question. After a moment of watching tortured expressions fly across her face, he decided that this may not have been the best time to inquire about her feelings for him.

"Um, I'll tell you what, why don't you take a few days to think about it. However, I'm not going to let you off on the other question."

Ryoko visibly relaxed at Zak's acceptance of her reluctance to answer. His playful tone regarding a different question made her feel a little more at ease.

"And what question's that?"

"Do you like the guitar?"

Ryoko smiled.

"Okay, I like the guitar." She answered, as if it were a chore to answer so many questions. Looking to her left, she could see Zak was smiling at her again. Her heart began pounding in her chest. Ryoko watched as he inched his way closer to her. As he got closer, she could think only of how much she disliked holding in her feelings. She tried a last desperate ploy to keep things from getting any more intimate.

"What are you doing?"

Zak stopped so he could answer her question.

"I'm going to kiss you, and you're going to like it."

Ryoko's eyes closed as she recalled the passionate kiss they had shared last night. The memory of those feelings flooded her conscious mind, urging her to accept the display of affection he was offering her. Soon, she felt Zak's warm breath on her face, and her mouth fell open. Just as their lips touched, she heard the sliding glass door on the third floor open. Her eyes snapped open.

"Ryoko?" Tenchi voice issued from below.

Ryoko practically leapt away from Zak as Tenchi began to make his way to the roof. She took up a position leaning over the top of the fake chimney on her forearms. Zak simply sat where he was, muttering curses to himself.

"Up here." Ryoko called to Tenchi.

"You are up here." Tenchi remarked as his head cleared the edge of the tile roof. "Is everything all right? Dad said Zak went looking for you a little while ago, but he isn't back yet."

"He's right here." She pointed her thumb at the side of the chimney facing away from Tenchi.

Tenchi did not answer right away. His eyes darted from Ryoko to Zak several times, then he sighed.

"All right. It's your party. But, you should come down and join the rest of us. Be sociable, you know?" He advised as he started back down.

"Be right there!" She promised, ignoring the hand that was climbing, unseen, up the back of her right leg.

Once she heard the glass door close, Ryoko slapped Zak's hand away.

"Cut it out! What are you trying to do, get me in trouble?"

Zak looked around the corner of the chimney with a sly smile.

"Come on. Sit with me."

Ryoko intently stared at Zak, trying to discern his true intentions.

"Shit. I must be nuts, letting you mess with me like this."

"You want it just as much as I do."

Ryoko stared impassively at Zak for a few seconds more before deciding to put an end to their private time.

"I'm goin' back to the party." She indifferently announced as she phased down through the roof of the house.

Once he was alone, Zak sighed. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the proclamation of Ryoko's love for Tenchi gouged into the bricks. Angrily, he slapped his hand over the heart and applied a good sized jolt of energy to it, vaporizing the first centimeter of hardened earth. When he removed his hand, there was no sign of the symbol.

"I don't have time for stupid, teenaged, kids!"

Ryoko awoke not knowing where she was or how she had gotten there. A quick look around reminded her she was in her room. The party quickly came back to her. The last thing she remembered was Tenchi and Zak carrying her to her room, complaining that she should take a bath because she smelled of sake. The pounding in her skull reminded her that she had indeed been drinking heavily. Looking around, she noticed the large jug she kept stuffed away in a corner.

_"A li'le hair-o'-the-dog oughtta take care of this here headache."_

Ryoko took the jug and upended it, drinking the entire contents in one drought. She set it down and waited for the alcohol to permeate her system once more. Before long, the fuzziness returned, and she felt blissfully and completely plastered. She was just rediscovering the edges of consciousness when she remembered she needed a bath.

Without consideration for the amount of alcohol in her system, Ryoko stood. Swaying back and forth unsteadily, she considered putting some clothes on. But then she would just have to take them off again when she got in the water. Keeping her hand on the wall for balance, she stumbled to the bath.

Arriving at the entrance, she noticed that the symbols on the doors seemed to sort of blend together. She got a naughty idea looking at the symbol indicating which side was meant for Tenchi. Smiling, Ryoko entered the male area of the bath, imagining that Tenchi might be inside.

Staggering towards the water, Ryoko got a big surprise when she found someone bathing. Looking hard through the fuzzy edges of her vision revealed a well-built young man with short black hair, sitting on the floor with a sponge and soap.

_"Tenchi."_ She thought, pleased that her fantasy was coming true.

Foregoing walking for flight, Ryoko silently floated her way to him. When she arrived just behind him, she threw her arms around him, pressed her body against his back.

"Hello, lover." She greeted, sliding her hands sensuously over his stomach and chest. "Tonight's your lucky night. I came here for a bath. But, if you play your cards right, I'll be coming for you."

Ryoko started kissing his ear, hoping she would not be denied. A pair of strong hands enfolded hers. His fingers intertwined with hers, expressing appreciation for what she was doing. When sucking on his neck raised no objection, she got a strong feeling that she had been missed her a great deal more than anyone had realized.

_"Finally..."_ Ryoko thought.

Tenchi awoke sweating. It felt like it was a hundred degrees in his room, even though the windows were open. He threw back his sheets to cool himself.

_"Man, what brought that on?"_ He wondered, recalling the dream that had prompted such a strong physical reaction. At least he could understand the reasons behind who he had been dreaming of. Realizing he felt thirsty, as well as overheated, Tenchi set to getting his pants on so he could go get something cool to drink.

He was just returning to his room when he saw the first flash of light from outside. Many months of random energy blasts and flying girls had conditioned him to such events. He hit the floor just before the blast wave struck, shattering every window in the house. The paint on the outside of the house bubbled and peeled due to the extreme heat of the explosion.

Once the flying glass settled and he felt it was safe to stand upright, Tenchi got back to his feet. His bed was covered in broken glass. Miraculously, the glass of lemonade in his hand was untouched, except for a slight bit of spillage. He looked out the window just in time to see a blazing orange comet shooting across the sky. It quickly receded into the distance. Somehow, he knew the comet was Ryoko, flying away again. There was debris all over the area surrounding where the bath house once floated. The pond below it was completely dry.

There were cries of alarm throughout the house as the others began to react to the explosion. Tenchi sighed, expecting someone would soon come barging into his room to check on him. It was already a late night, but at least the next two days at school were devoted to make-up exams. Somehow, nothing had actually happened during the week that had required him to miss an exam. Since he had no make-up exams on those days, he had the next two days off.

The sound of thumping feet got louder, then his door was thrown open.

"Lord Tenchi! Are you all right?"

As expected, Aeka was the first to appear. Sasami was right behind her sister.

"I'm fine. But, Ryoko's gone again, and the bath-house is history."

As Aeka began making her way into the room, Tenchi looked over his shoulder and warned her to stay out.

"Stay there. There's a lot of glass on the floor."

It only took Aeka a few seconds to determine what had caused the explosion that had woken everyone. Broken windows and annihilated buildings made it very clear who was responsible.

"For goodness sake! That woman is nothing but trouble! What happened, this time?"

"I wish I knew, Aeka. I wish I knew."

Raising his glass to take a drink, Tenchi noticed a piece of broken glass in it just in time to avoid a painful injury. Scowling with irritation, he tossed the full glass out the broken window.

"Would somebody get me a broom?"

The First Princess awoke in the middle of the next night when she heard scratching coming from the other side of the wall of her bedroom. The day had already been entirely too active. Tenchi had insisted they look through the nearby hills for Ryoko all day, even though the odds of actually finding her were, according to Washu, astronomically low. After having traipsed around the hills for hours, Aeka wanted nothing more than a good night's sleep. A burglar or prowler in the house was the last thing they needed.

She quietly rose, making sure not to wake Sasami. Managing to open the door without giving herself away, she silently crept down the hall, clad only in her nightgown. Peeking around the corner into Ryoko's room, she saw Tenchi.

"Lord Tenchi?" She spoke revealing herself.

Tenchi looked surprised that someone had snuck up on him. When he saw it was Aeka, he relaxed.

"I guess you caught me."

"Indeed. It seems that Ryoko's bad habit of snooping around in other people's rooms has rubbed off on you."

"Yeah."

Tenchi looked down at the picture he held in his hand.

"I really don't know what kind of person Ryoko is, on the inside. I knew she had some stuff pinned up on the wall here, but, I had no idea it was like this."

Aeka joined Tenchi in front of Ryoko's Wall of Junk. Tenchi returned the picture he had been examining, and took another.

"I remember when she wore this dress."

Aeka peeked at the picture and saw that it was of just before Tenchi and Ryoko had gone out on their Christmas Eve date. In the picture, Tenchi looked a little embarrassed as Ryoko clung to his arm, smiling with gleeful anticipation.

"She was so proud of herself."

There was a long pause as Tenchi stared at the photo. "I'm sorry, Aeka. I'm sorry my indecisiveness has caused so much pain."

"Actually, it was Mihoshi who found you."

"Huh?" He looked at Aeka in confusion at the abrupt change of subject.

"In the hotel laundry, after the terrorists took you. She single-handedly eliminated them, saving you."

"Well, she is a Galaxy Police Detective First Class, after all."

"Indeed, she is."

Their shared laughter was short-lived. Tenchi continued to stare longingly at the photo. Finally, he sighed.

_"Lord Tenchi..." _Aeka felt desperation gripping her chest. She cast about, trying to find some way to draw Tenchi's attention away from Ryoko. However, they were in Ryoko's room, surrounded by her possessions. She could find nothing to do or say except for blatant expressions of interest on her part.

Tenchi sighed again. He replaced the second picture on the wall. Looking around, he noticed the play poster on the wall.

"Jeez. It's even autographed."

"Lord Tenchi," Aeka started, finally coming up with something, "may I ask why you told Miss Ryoko she could date Zakaraia?"

"I was... trying to return the favor. She said we could go out, and I didn't want her to think that I didn't care about her feelings. I heard it was a really great show, and I thought she might get something out of it. I guess she got more than I bargained for."

"That's odd." Aeka mentioned. "When she returned home, she was in tears and she immediately started yelling at me."

"She was?"

"Yes. She said 'It sucked! I'm never going to another opera as long as I live!'"

"Huh. Then... why's this poster here?"

"Well, you know Miss Ryoko; always telling lies. Perhaps she was simply overcome by the power of the performance."

"I guess. I just wish..." Tenchi failed to complete the statement.

"You wish... you had gone with her." Aeka solemnly completed his sentence, sensing that, despite the fact they were growing closer, he was seriously considering the nature of his feelings for Ryoko.

"Aeka, what happened while I was in America? What happened between you and Ryoko?"

Aeka blinked at the sudden change of topic. She spent a few moments trying to decide if she should answer or not. Eventually, she decided the truth was the only honorable course of action.

"When she returned, I... lost my temper. I became furious with her for breaking her promise."

"What happened?"

"We fought. Much to my surprise, I won. I was poised to deliver the final blow and rid the universe of her abominable presence, once and for all, when suddenly, I was overcome by a flood of thoughts and feelings. Thousands of years of torture and pain entered my mind. Washu later explained that I had received her memories telepathically because she feared for her life."

"I... could not finish her, now that I knew she was not to blame for all those acts. I also found she was repentant of the things she had done. Ryoko did not deserve to die."

Aeka cracked a small grin.

"Although, it did feel good to beat her at her own game."

A large tear-drop rolled down the side of Tenchi's face.

"Uh, yeah..."

"I also found that she was truly and deeply in love with you. I... feel so foolish for continuing to oppose her. My feelings are pale imitations compared to hers."

Tenchi could plainly see that Aeka was getting upset. Her speech had begun to tremble and tears were gathering in her eyes. He could have tried to stop her. But he had a feeling she needed to get these things off her chest. However, he was not expecting her next statement.

"Lord Tenchi, Miss Ryoko is not the only one with feelings. I... have... feelings, like hers... for you."

Aeka kept her gaze low, properly submissive for daring to say such things. After a few moments of waiting, she felt his hands on her shoulders.

"Aeka?"

"Yes, Lord Tenchi?"

"Please look at me. There's something I want to tell you."

Slowly, Aeka raised her head and met Tenchi's gaze.

"You're the best friend I've ever had. If things were different, I could... it could work for us. I know that, someday, you'll make a beautiful bride."

"Please, no..." Aeka begged, looking away again.

"I always thought there would be more time. Then, all of a sudden, there wasn't. Now, I have to choose. If I don't, I know I'll regret it for the rest of my life. Aeka, Ryoko needs someone."

"Zakaraia cares for her! Let her have him if she needs someone so badly!"

"I can't. Whenever I think of her with someone else, I... get mad. I can't help it. We all have feelings, Aeka, and this is how I feel. Please, try to understand."

"How can I when my heart aches so to hear it?"

"Aeka..." Tenchi pulled Aeka to his chest and held her as she wept for the love she could not have.

He did not speak again until her tears subsided.

"I'm so sorry for hurting you like this."

"No." Aeka wiped at her tear-streaked face. "You've been more than honorable in your intentions all along. I'll... sniffle I will do my best to abide by your decision."

Aeka began to pull away from Tenchi. As they parted, she could feel his warmth passing her by. She turned her head slightly, causing their cheeks to brush together. When their faces cleared one another, they seemed to stall for a moment. Their eyes met. With only a look, they confirmed with each other the feelings they wished to share, even if it was for only a moment. They closed their eyes, and reversed direction, pressing their lips together.

The kiss was very sweet and gentle to start. They quickly moved beyond the initial puckering to an open-mouthed version. They allowed each other a long time to express the feelings they may never again be permitted to share. After what seemed like a short time, but was actually over three minutes, their passions slackened, and they parted. Tenchi released Aeka and they simply looked into each other's eyes.

"Lord Tenchi?"

"Yes, Aeka?"

"Thank you for making my first kiss so memorable."

"Your FIRST kiss?"

"Yes."

Tenchi remained sheepishly silent for several seconds before deliberately changing the subject.

"I wish I knew where Ryoko was. Usually we have Washu to do those sorts of things. But even she can't seem to find her."

Understanding that Tenchi was trying to avoid a difficult and embarrassing situation, Aeka went along with his line of discussion.

"Yes. I recall she was rather frustrated."

__

"Yeah, well, when she cuts off the link and doesn't do anything to give herself away, even I have to resort to more mundane means of searching."

"Like what?" Tenchi asked.

"Like traipsing around the countryside."

"But what if she's in trouble?"

"If that were the case, she wouldn't have closed the link, would she?"

"I guess..."

"She'll come back when she's ready. That's all there is to it. Heck, you'll probably know before I do!"

"I'm worried about her."

"Perhaps..." Aeka began.

"Perhaps?" Tenchi prompted her.

"The Master Key. It held Ryoko's gems for seven hundred years. Perhaps we can find them, and her, through Funaho."

"Aeka, thank you."

"Come." She bade Tenchi, taking his hand.

"Um, shouldn't we put some more clothes on first?"

"I believe this is more important." Aeka advised. Though she wore nothing under her nightgown, she felt safe and secure with Tenchi as they walked, hand-in-hand, to Yosho's tree. When they arrived, Aeka turned to Tenchi.

"Do you have the Master Key with you?"

"Do'h! I'll be right back."

Tenchi took off to retrieve the key, leaving Aeka by herself. She watched his retreating form with amusement. Not only had he forgotten the sword, but he had left a young woman alone in the dark woods in nothing but her nightgown! Not that she felt vulnerable, or anything.

Tenchi returned a short time later with the Master Key, a light jacket, and little breath. Aeka could not help feeling a surge of longing as she watched Tenchi's heaving chest and shoulders. She blushed when Tenchi took notice of her stare.

"I'm all right." He wheezed. "I just didn't...huff want to walk."

Recovering himself, Tenchi held out the jacket.

"I brought this for you."

"Thank you." Aeka turned and slid her arms into the sleeves of the jacket. It was not quite summer yet, and the nights were still a bit chilly. However, it was warm enough that she did not bother to zip it up.

"Okay. Here it is." Tenchi presented the sword to Aeka as she turned back to face him.

Aeka ruefully shook her head,

"I'm afraid that the task belongs to you, Lord Tenchi. The Master Key is controlled by the will of the user. If I were to attempt this task, the results would be poor, I'm sure.

"So, what do I do?"

"With this sword, you can command every ship in the Jurai Navy simultaneously, with only the exception of my father's ship, Kirito, and Tsunami. Although, my brother always thought it was better to ask the tree's assistance rather than command it."

"Wow. Hmm. Okay. So, like I said, what do I do?"

Aeka giggled.

"Ask Funaho for assistance."

"Right."

Tenchi gazed upon the tree and began to concentrate.

_"Hello, Funaho. I could use some help."_

All was silent, except for the rustling of leaves.

_"Funaho, I really need some help finding Ryoko. She ran away again, and I'm really worried about her. Aeka said you might be able to track her through her gems, since they were in this sword for so long."_

A high-pitched, feminine voice echoed in Tenchi's head.

_"Is there so little love left in your heart?"_

Tenchi held his breath. If any voice could be described as God-like, this one would be. However, the words were not encouraging.

_"I... um..."_ Tenchi had no answer.

_"Remember this?"_

Tenchi sees a younger version of himself, just a child, roasting sweet potatoes in front of Ryoko's cave. This time there is something different. Ryoko is there, watching him.

_"Remember this?"_

Young Tenchi is chasing dragonflies with a net. Again, Ryoko is watching. This time, she smiles as he runs by her.

_"She looks happy."_

"Remember this?"

Young Tenchi is urinating on a rock by Ryoko's cave. Ryoko is watching with amusement plain on her face.

_"No wonder she thinks so little of getting naked around me. I showed myself to her all the time."_

"Remember this?" Young Tenchi is lying facedown on a rock crying his eyes out. Ryoko tries to comfort him. But she cannot touch him or interact in any way. A tear rolls down her cheek.

_"When my mother died, she cried with me."_

"Remember this?" Funaho said with a bit of mirth.

A not-so-young Teenaged Tenchi runs to Ryoko's cave with a schoolbag full of his father's pornographic magazines.

_"I guess she really was watching."_

Ryoko's eyes get big when she sees what Tenchi has brought with him. She looks at what he is looking at, then looks at his face, checking his expression. Each time he flips a page, she repeats the process, watching him. When he begins to masturbate, she looks away for a moment, clearly embarrassed to be watching, but curious, all the same.

_"Now I understand. I must have looked at those magazines a hundred times that summer. I made her think it was normal to be openly sexual with someone."_

"Remember this?"

Teen Tenchi is standing in front of Ryoko's cave. He is wearing his new high school uniform.

_"That was the day Dad and I moved into town. He had just gotten a big promotion, which was great. But the commute was too far for him to do his job properly."_

His father call for him to say goodbye to his grandfather. Teen Tenchi turns away and runs to his family, leaving Ryoko behind. Silently, she begs and cries for him to return. Tears are flowing freely down her face. As the van pulls away, she falls to the ground and curls into a ball, shaking and shuddering in anguish.

_"Oh, Ryoko. I'm so sorry. I wish I'd known. You must have been so lonely those last two years. Um, not to mention the six hundred and ninety eight years before that."_

"Remember this?"

Tenchi of two years ago is entering Ryoko's cave. Ryoko follows, curious and hopeful. When Tenchi breaks in to the inner chamber, Ryoko refuses to follow. A look of fear is evident on her face. Light begins to glow from within. Ryoko is suddenly sucked through the long tunnel and back into her body.

_"She looks terrified."_

Freshly awakened, Ryoko grabs Tenchi's wrist as he retrieves the sword from where he dropped it. Tenchi freezes in horror as a rotten, shriveled devil looks him in the eyes. She is suddenly blasted back, and Tenchi makes his getaway. Stunned, Ryoko begins to examine herself. She sees her hands and starts to shake.

_"I wasn't there for this part."_

Ryoko looks down and sees a decayed corpse instead of a healthy young woman's body. The shaking grows worse. She raises a hand to her face. A moment later it comes away with a mask.

_"I didn't know she was wearing a mask."_

Ryoko slams the mask against the edge of the pool, shattering it into a million pieces Her shoulders begin to heave, and then she collapses against the edge of the pool.

_"I am so ashamed. When she needed me the most, I treated her like a monster."_

"Know this."

Suddenly, Tenchi is in the onsen-like bath. At his feet, Ryoko lays against Zak's chest. By their position and state of undress, it is obvious they have just finished having sex. Lounging in the warm afterglow of the shared experience, she begins giggling. Tenchi tries desperately to look away or close his eyes. But this is a vision, not ordinary sight. He cannot avert his gaze.

_"I don't want to see this!"_

"What's so funny?" Zak asks Ryoko.

Her laughter immediately stops. She props herself up on her arms and takes a good look at who she has just been with. Zak's pale blue eyes look back at her.

"No..." Ryoko shuts her eyes, trying to block the unwanted sight from her mind.

"What's wrong?" Zak tries to comfort her by putting a hand on the side of her face.

Ryoko slaps the hand away. Leaping away, she hovers over the ground, suddenly and inexplicably furious.

"I told you I wanted Tenchi!"

"I thought you changed your mind!" Zak shouts. "I was just taking a bath, and all of a sudden the girl I like, the girl I love," he amends, "comes on to me. How did you expect me to react?"

**"I LOVE TENCHI!"** Ryoko hysterically screams.

Her eyes snap open. Zak can clearly see them blazing like miniature suns.

"Oh, shit!" Zak says before disappearing.

Everything turns white.

_"So that's what happened. She must have thought he was me. I guess, if she were drunk and it was dark, it could happen that way."_

"Know this."

From a picturesque hilltop, Tenchi sees the Tree of Heaven, from which the Jurai Royal Palace is built. Looking up, he sees the weather is stormy.

"Lord Tenchi?"

He looks to his right and sees Aeka standing next to him.

"Aeka! What are you doing here?"

"I don't know. I was standing aside, waiting for you to finish with Funaho. Now, I am here."

The wind began to pick up.

"Oh, my. It appears as if there is going to be a storm."

Rain began to dash against the tree's leaves. Wind whips the branches back and forth. Soon, the rain turns to hail. The huge tree groans in protest.

"There must be something wrong with the weather control system." Aeka surmised. "Storms are never allowed to get this bad."

The storm continues to assault the tree making it creak and groan. Strangely, there is no lightning. Soon, the wind and hail come to a stop.

"There. The repairs must have been completed."

**CRACK BOOM!!!**

Aghast, Tenchi and Aeka watch as a huge bolt of lightning strikes the Tree of Heaven, splitting it in two.

"No!" Aeka cries out, falling to her knees. "All those people! Mother and Father. The trees. All gone."

Tenchi kneels next to her. He puts his hands on her shoulders and tries to comfort her.

"Aeka, it isn't real. It's just a vision."

"Yes. Yes, of course. Thank you."

With Tenchi's assistance, Aeka unsteadily climbs to her feet. Looking at the damage, they see flames leaping hundreds of meters into the air from the stricken tree. Slowly, the flames begin to coalesce into a vaguely bird-like shape.

"A phoenix?" Tenchi supposes.

Aeka withholds her judgement until the shape becomes more definite. Only when she recognizes the hooked beak and raptor talons does she speak.

"Oh, sweet Tsunami, no. It can't be."

The beak opens and an eagle's cry screeches across the landscape.

"An eagle?" Tenchi asks.

"There is a legend," Aeka explains, "a myth really, about an eagle of fire. It comes forth when a terrible wrong has been committed and seeks revenge. It cannot be stopped. No one can control it. It leaves behind nothing but death and destruction. It is known as Washishuu, the Eagle of Vengeance."

"Washishuu?" Tenchi repeated, taking note of the similarity between that name and Washu, who came out of her lab so infrequently, as of late.

The eagle took to the air. Flapping it's tremendous wings, it rises over the destroyed palace. The clouds literally disappear before it, running to find friendlier skies. Suddenly, the eagle takes off like a jet, leaving behind a streamer of red light. Tenchi and Aeka stare after it in dread.

Then, the sky begins to fall. Chunks of debris become visible as they burn during reentry into Jurai's atmosphere. A large piece crashes nearby, sending dirt and dust into the air. Once the dust has settled, the observers can see the remains of a Jurai ship.

"No!" Aeka cries again, directing her anguish at the sky. "What did we ever do to you? Leave us alone!"

The eagle's call is heard again, this time from behind. They turn to see the creature of legend bearing down on them, it's sickle-like talons poised to strike. Tenchi jumps in front of Aeka. He raises his hands and the Light-Hawk Wings spring into life, for once, obeying his command. The eagle strikes at the glowing blades. There is a bright flash of light.

Tenchi and Aeka stood beneath Funaho, too shaken to speak. All is as it was before. There are no Light-Hawk Wings, no eagle, and no Ryoko. When Tenchi turned to check on Aeka, she threw herself against his chest. For a moment, Tenchi was surprised at her sudden aggressiveness. But, realizing that it did not feel so bad having a beautiful young woman against his chest, he put his arms around her, offering comfort.

"What a horrible vision!" Aeka whispered into his chest.

"It was pretty weird."

A minute or so later, Aeka remembered the reason for communing with Funaho.

"Did you learn anything useful?"

"I learned some very important things, Aeka. But nothing that will help us find Ryoko."

"I apologize for not being of more help."

"It's okay, Aeka. Thank you for trying. Why don't we head back?" Tenchi suggested, stepping back a little and offering his hand.

"Very well." Aeka agreed, accepting his offer of escort.

The disturbed young woman kept close to Tenchi as they walked back to the house. She practically clung to his arm, keeping as close as possible to him without impeding their progress to the house, while silently contemplated the possible meanings of the vision they had shared.

"We're here." Tenchi said as they reached Aeka's door.

"Yes."

"Will you be all right?"

"I suppose. Though I... doubt I'll be able to sleep, tonight."

There was a long pause as Tenchi gave serious thought to Aeka's state of mind. As he thought about what to do, Aeka released her hold on his arm. She removed the jacket he had given her to wear and neatly folded it before returning it to him.

"Thank you, Lord Tenchi, for your concern."

Tenchi reached out and accepted his jacket back.

"Would it help if, um... if you, uh... slept... in... my room?"

Aeka's eyes went wide in surprise at this unexpected boon. She blushed deeply as she remembered her nakedness under her nightgown.

"I... believe it would."

They both averted their eyes, embarrassed at the proximity they were agreeing to share.

"All right." Tenchi said. "It's, um... this way."

Aeka followed just behind him.

"_Dear Lord! I can't believe I'm going to sleep in Lord Tenchi's room! It's preposterous! It's scandalous! It's... it's... It's something I've always wanted to do."_

Tenchi opened the door to his room and beckoned her to enter first. She crossed the threshold after a brief delay, then looked around. It was a young man's room. Bed, desk, dresser, and chair for furniture, not much else. There was a small closet, a couple of small windows, and the sliding glass door that led out to the balcony. The door slid shut behind them.

"I have a spare futon in the closet, if you don't mind waiting while I unroll it."

"That will be fine. It is very considerate of you to allow me to sleep here tonight."

"It's no trouble. Just about everyone else has slept in here at some point."

"I see." Aeka said, unsure of how else to respond.

Tenchi pulled the futon from his closet and set it on the floor. He gave it a push, and the roll unwound itself with a flop. He returned to the closet and removed a pillow and sheets. These he unfolded and draped over the futon. The pillow went on last.

"Will that be enough, or... Yeah, I'd better get a blanket, too. It might get colder, later." Tenchi went digging through the closet again.

"Lord Tenchi, that's more than enough." Aeka tried to get Tenchi to stop. His kindness was just upsetting her more.

"Are, you sure? Why don't I just set it down on the floor? That way, if you need it, it's there."

"That's fine. But, please, you don't need to make such a fuss."

"Are you sure this'll be okay?"

"Yes."

"All right."

Tenchi turned to his bed for a moment, then looked over his shoulder.

"Um..."

"Ah! I'm sorry." Embarrassed, Aeka turned away, giving Tenchi the privacy he requested as he removed his trousers. Once he was under his sheets, he lay facing away, giving Aeka the same privacy if she required it.

"Okay."

Aeka knelt and pulled back the sheets on her futon. She slipped underneath them, and pulled the sheets back over herself, also facing away. She did not want Tenchi to see the tears that would fall tonight for the love she would never have. Despite the precaution, Tenchi eventually heard her sniffling.

"Aeka?"

"Sniffle Yes?"

"Are you okay?"

There was a moment of silence while Aeka thought of how to answer.

"No."

There was another long pause as Tenchi considered what he could say or do to ease Aeka's worries.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing." She falsely answered. "And you?"

"Nothing." Tenchi answered.

"I wonder... if you are thinking of the same nothing as I." Aeka wondered aloud.

That gave Tenchi a start. At the moment she had asked, he had been thinking of how the only comfort she had found this evening had been in his arms. Inviting her into his bed was definitely not the first thing he had thought of. However, it was also not the last.

"I suppose not." Aeka resigned herself to her lonely fate.

As he considered his options, Tenchi recalled how it had felt when he had held Aeka earlier, as well as the kiss before that. For once, he had not felt pressured. Those moments had been spontaneous and mutual. He could not deny that he felt attracted to her. Now that he thought about it, things between them had started to pick up once Zak had shown up at the shrine festival. At the same time, he had felt himself slowly moving further away from Ryoko.

At first, he had enjoyed the relative peace and tranquility brought on by Ryoko's absence, and the opportunity it provided for him to get to know Aeka better without having to worry about someone throwing a fit. Soon, however, despite his growing interest in Aeka, he had begun to miss Ryoko. It had taken him almost the entire week to realize it. But he really did have feelings for her.

Funaho had shown him the truth about Ryoko. Beneath her tough exterior, she was very delicate. With a bit of mirth, Tenchi likened Ryoko to a well-packed box of fine china. His sniff of humor was loud enough for Aeka to hear.

"Do you find something funny in all of this?"

"I'm sorry, Aeka. I wasn't laughing at you. I was laughing at myself."

"Pardon?"

"I... got so wrapped up trying not to hurt anyone, that I forgot why I was doing it in the first place. I'm sorry."

Aeka turned over, pulling her sheets along with her. She looked up at Tenchi from her place on the floor. Tenchi blushed a bit when he saw the look of admiration she was giving him.

"I don't know if the nothing you were thinking of is the same as me, but, I'll bet it was close."

"Lord Tenchi..."

Tenchi sighed as he pushed his sheets to his waist and moved over to make room for her.

"All right, Aeka. But just for tonight. That's it."

"I couldn't." Aeka said, wide-eyed.

"Well, you don't have to. But, I don't think you'll sleep if you stay on the floor, and I trust you enough not to try anything. So, I guess it's all right. That is, if you don't mind."

Aeka stared at Tenchi for several seconds before she could even move. When she did move, she found she was actually accepting his offer. There had been no conscious decision on her part. There was only her feelings on the matter, and her feelings drew her to Tenchi like a moth to flame.

She abandoned the futon Tenchi had so thoughtfully set out for her and sat on the edge of his bed. Holding her nightgown to her legs, she turned and stuck her legs under his sheets. Turning to face Tenchi, she laid down right in front of him. Tenchi pulled the sheets up over the two of them. They looked at each other as they lay, face to face. Thoughts of what the other may or may not be thinking ran through their minds, sending a blush of red to their faces.

"Good night." Tenchi suddenly said, closing his eyes.

"Good night, Lord Tenchi."

For a long time, Aeka just stared at Tenchi, examining every detail of his face, committing every line and pore and hair to memory. Her breath quickened, and her chest ached with longing for his companionship. She had only a hands-width to move to find Tenchi. She barely touched his hand, just a light brush. Tenchi's eyes opened.

"Aeka..."

"You may." She suddenly blurted out.

"Huh?"

_"Oh, my God! I can't believe I said that!"_

But Aeka knew she had meant it. The combination of revelations this evening had pushed her over the edge. Although it hurt tremendously, the thought of losing Tenchi to Ryoko was not unbearable, due to the fact that she still had her family on Jurai. The vision she had shared with Tenchi had deeply disturbed her. She could not bear the idea of losing both her immediate family and Tenchi at the same time. 

"I... I mean, I just, I... um..." Aeka tripped over her tongue trying to explain herself.

"I may what?" Tenchi asked.

"I just... I, um, I... Tenchi..."

She took a tighter hold of his hand and squeezed.

"You may." She repeated, blushing deeply.

"Aeka, what do you mean?"

"I... mean... that, um... You said... it was just for tonight. If... that is true, then, just for tonight..." Aeka took a deep breath, "you may."

Long pause.

"I guess sleeping in the same bed isn't such a good idea, after all. I'll sleep on the futon, tonight. You can have the bed." Tenchi offered, turning over so he could flip the sheets away.

"Tenchi!" Aeka's hand tightened, keeping him from doing any more than just sitting up.

"Aeka, please, let go."

"Tenchi, even if it's just for tonight, I... can't bear it any longer. I was forced to watch for two years as you and Ryoko grew closer. When I was finally granted the opportunity for which I have been praying ever since we met, I rejoiced. I was so close to having my dreams come true. Please, Tenchi, even if it's only for one night, let me live my dream."

Aeka's words pierced Tenchi right to the heart. He had already told her he had all but chosen Ryoko over her. It would be the purest cruelty to destroy her dream. No matter how much he struggled with it, he just could not reconcile hurting Aeka like that. He sat on his bed, unable to decide.

"You don't know what you're asking of me."

"Begging your pardon, but, yes, I do. As First Princess, I have been taught that the will of the Empire must come first, before everything, no matter how important or personal. My parents arranged a marriage between myself and Yosho when I was only four. Although we love each other as family, Yosho did not wish to marry me. Ryoko's attack provided him an opportunity to leave Jurai behind without dishonor."

"Since Yosho was the only male heir, and I am the eldest daughter, either my first-born son will inherit the throne, or, if there is no heir, control of the Jurai Empire will pass to another family of the royal line. Most probably House Amaki."

"Lord Tenchi, with all due respect, I am risking literally everything for..." Aeka hesitated before concluding her speech. "...for one night... with you."

Aeka noticed that through her long speech, Tenchi had closed his eyes and was letting his head hang down. She was not sure what this meant, but it seemed to be a reflection of some inner turmoil.

"Aeka," Tenchi spoke without moving, "tell me about your dreams."

Despite the tenseness of the situation, Aeka could not help a small smile from appearing on her face. Tenchi's request was both thoughtful, and thought provoking. His intelligence and strength of character were some of his best traits, in her opinion.

"If I had my way, I would be home on Jurai, happily married to a formerly eligible young prince whom I love very much. There would be two children, a boy and a girl. And, if I cannot have all that I wish, if I cannot have a happy marriage, if I cannot be home on Jurai, if I cannot have the children, then I would have the eligible young prince whom I..." Aeka's voice caught as she put great effort into trying to say the next words, "...whom I..." a tear dribbled down her cheek. "...whom I love."

"What if something happens?" Tenchi quietly asked.

"Something?"

"The king would kill me."

Aeka wiped the stray tear from her face.

"Over my dead body. And since I could be carrying the next heir to the throne, that is very unlikely. Of course, after me he would have to kill Ryoko, and I know for a fact that she can defeat him. Next, he would have to go through Sasami, then Washu, then Mihoshi... My goodness, the list is long."

Tenchi's mouth turned up at Aeka's quirky sense of humor. He finally turned his head and took a good look at Aeka as she reclined on his bed. Contrary to popular belief, Tenchi liked to look at attractive women near his age. He could tell Aeka wore nothing underneath her nightgown by the contrasting patches of light and shadow the moon-light cast upon her. Seeing her modestly clad curves revealed in this way, excited him. It was like a multi-layered puzzle that needed solving. Over the last two years, he had grown enough that Aeka, Ryoko, and Mihoshi did not appear so much older than him as they used to. Especially over the last six months, he had come to appreciate their physical appearance much more. However, being fearful of the consequences, he had suppressed his growing attraction to the women.

Seeing that Tenchi was appraising her physical appearance, Aeka blushed.

"If you have concerns for the future, then I would tell you that the... timing... this evening is not, um... it's... not the right time." Aeka paused for a moment before continuing. "Lord Tenchi, I'm going to lie down, now. If... you wish, you may."

With this straight-forward statement, Aeka did exactly as she said she would. She turned away and laid down on her side, facing away from Tenchi, who continued to examine her from afar. As he drank in the sight of her feminine form, he felt his chest tightening. He was a healthy young man, with normal wants and desires. Looking at Aeka this way brought those desires to the front of his mind where he was forced to deal with them directly, instead of simply shoving them back. Although Aeka had successfully dealt with every argument he had presented to her, thus far, there was another issue that needed to be addressed. 

"What about Ryoko? I don't want to hurt her any more."

Aeka was quick to answer.

"You need not worry about Miss Ryoko. I apologize if this sounds crude, but, she has given me her permission to go first, as she put it."

"She doesn't care if we, um...?"

"That is exactly what she said to me. First or second, it matters not to her, so long as I stop interfering. Lord Tenchi, I said that I would abide by your decision, and I mean to keep my word. However, for tonight..."

For a moment, all was silent. Then, Tenchi laid back on the bed. After several seconds passed, he turned over onto his left side. Reaching down to grasp the sheets in his hand, he pulled them up over his shoulder, making sure they covered Aeka, as well. Once he felt comfortable, he reached out beneath the sheets and placed his hand on Aeka's waist. She held still as he felt her warmth through her sheer nightgown.

"Aeka?"

"Yes, Lord Tenchi?"

"Would you mind, um... moving over here? I... don't want you to fall off."

Wordlessly, Aeka complied with his request. The feel of his breath washing over her neck sent shivers down her spine.

"You're warm." He murmured against the back of her neck.

"As are you."

Aeka felt Tenchi's lips brush the back of her neck.

"You smell good."

All was silent as Aeka basked in the glory of Tenchi's praise. They laid together, unmoving for several minutes before Tenchi spoke again.

"Aeka, I really like you, a lot. But, I can't do what you want. You deserve to be treated better than that. I already hurt Ryoko, and I won't do the same to you." Tenchi took a deep breath before continuing. "I got an acceptance letter from the academy, Friday."

Aeka closed her eyes.

"I see. Then I shall patiently await your return. I expect you will return a better person than when you leave."

"I... haven't actually decided, yet."

"It's your choice, Lord Tenchi. Tonight, and in the future."

There were no more words that night. As Aeka's mind slowly released it's iron-clad hold on the disturbing thoughts of today, she found it within herself to look to the future with hope. She also found it within herself to curse herself for a fool for actually trying to seduce Tenchi.

_"You are growing to be an old tart, you silly girl. I can just hear Ryoko, now. 'You thought you could seduce my Tenchi with a body like that? Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!' She would laugh for an entire week. Crazy woman. I hope she returns soon, for Lord Tenchi's sake."_

It was not until the next night that Ryoko looked down on the Masaki home from her position high in the sky. The last time she had occupied such a position, her emotions had been running rampant, just as they were now. This time she had no one to blame except herself.

The onsen was history, along with the small lake below it. The earth around was blackened and burned, scorched to lifelessness by the massive burst of energy she had released in her haze of pain and rage.

Ryoko descended through the roof into her room. It was not much of a room. There was no door and even less privacy. Technically speaking, it was not even really a room. It was just the space where Sasami hung herbs to dry. At least it smelled good.

She quickly gathered her few belongings and dropped them into a small bag. First were the dress and swimsuit Sasami had bought for her on Jurai. It amused Ryoko that they had been paid for with money from the royal coffers. She stuffed them into the bag then began pulling down her Wall of Junk. The pictures went into her bag as well as her official pardon. Lastly, there was the poster of the one and only opera she had ever attended.

_"Why is that still there?" _

Ryoko scoffed at her own forgetfulness, then plucked the poster from it's place and folded it, before stuffing it into her bag along with everything else. Another look around showed how little she actually possessed.

_"Not much to show for two years..."_ Ryoko thought morbidly. With a long sigh, she called for Ryo-o-ki.

_"Last call, Ryo-o-ki. Time to go."_

A young feminine voice spoke aloud.

"She won't come."

Ryoko turned to the balcony where the voice came from. Washu stood leaning against the banister.

"What do you want?" Ryoko asked.

"What happened in the onsen?"

"None of your business!" Ryoko hissed back.

Seeing that Ryoko was not the mood to talk, Washu tried another approach.

"Tenchi's very worried about you."

"So what?"

"He's been so worried he roams the house at night, looking for you."

Ryoko tried to tune out Washu's voice.

"Don't you pull that guilt-trip crap on me."

Washu knew she was on the right track. She could feel Ryoko's emotions threatening to boil through the mental link they shared. At this distance, Ryoko could not block the link no matter how hard she tried. Washu continued on.

"You should at least tell Tenchi goodbye."

"I can't."

"He deserves that much." Washu insisted.

"No." Ryoko shut her eyes tight.

"Why?"

The events of two nights ago flooded through the link and into Washu's mind. Ryoko's turmoil became very understandable. She felt betrayed by her own emotions, and was denying them as a protective measure. Her feelings told her she had made love to Tenchi. But her mind told her otherwise. Washu entered her daughter's room.

"I'm here, little Ryoko."

Ryoko turned to Washu. Her look of fear and self-loathing spoke volumes.

"He'll hate me."

"No way. I don't think Tenchi is even capable of hate. If you talk to him, he'll understand."

"But, what if..." Ryoko could not finish her sentence.

"If..." Washu offered a compromise, "If, after you've spoken with Tenchi, you still want to leave, I'll let Ryo-o-ki out of the lab."

"You'd... really do that?" Ryoko asked.

"You're my little girl." Washu answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Besides, you don't really want to leave, do you?"

"All right." Ryoko finally gave in. "I'll give it a try."

Washu gave her a smile.

"Chin-up, Ryoko. Be proud of who you are."

"All right, already."

Ryoko floated up through the ceiling to the third floor room where Tenchi slept. A bit of moonlight shown through the shades onto Tenchi's sleeping form. He slept on his side, with his back to the door. Ryoko was not sure what to do. Tenchi looked so peaceful, lying asleep in his bed.

"Ryoko?" He suddenly asked with no warning.

How had he known she was there?

Tenchi rolled out of his bed. He closed the distance between them in only a moment. allowing the sheets to fall to the floor, unheeded.

"Where have you been? I was so worried." Tenchi put his hands on her shoulders. "Are you all right?"

Ryoko looked away from Tenchi's gaze, afraid he would see how vulnerable she felt.

"Never mind." He told her. "I'm just glad you're home."

"Tenchi... I... um..." Ryoko tried to say what was on her mind. "I have to tell you something."

"What is it?"

Tenchi played dumb. He knew exactly what she wanted to talk about. He could have told her he knew, but this was her issue. She had to deal with it herself. Ryoko gently took his hands from her shoulders and held them at waist level between them.

"Tenchi, I... I thought..." Ryoko took a deep breath and blurted it out. "I thought it was you."

"In the bath?" He prompted.

Ryoko nodded.

"He... was there. It was dark and I... I thought it was you."

"Who was there?"

"Zak! Zak was there. I thought he was you! It was dark and I was drunk. I swear I'll never drink again." Tears began flowing down her face. "I thought... when he let me..." She took another deep breath. "I thought it was you I was making love to."

Ryoko let go of Tenchi's wrists. She stood before him, her heart bare before the one she loved.

"You really want to be with me that much?"

Ryoko meekly nodded.

Tenchi lifted one hand to her face and gently wiped her tears. Through her feline-like eyes, he could clearly see how much she was hurting. Ryoko reached up and grasped Tenchi's wrist with both hands. She held his hand firmly against her face, rubbing her cheek into his palm.

"I'm truly sorry for causing you so much pain." Tenchi apologized.

Ryoko began to slowly withdraw. She took a step back, allowing Tenchi's hand to slip from hers.

"Aeka's right. You... deserve someone better."

Tenchi started looking worried.

"Thanks for letting me stay here. But, I'm going now." She started fading from view. "You'll be all right with Aeka, won't you?"

"Ryoko, wait!"

"'Bye, Tenchi. I love you."

"Wait!"

Ryoko was rapidly fading away. In a moment, she would be gone. Tenchi blurted out the first thing he could think of that might make her change her mind.

"I choose!"

Ryoko resolidified.

"You what?"

"I'll choose." Tenchi repeated, quickly amending his original statement. "I promise, if you stay, I'll choose."

"Really?" She had always wondered what it would take to get Tenchi to choose between her and the others. Now she knew.

"I have something for you." Tenchi offered before Ryoko could respond to his earlier offer. He went to his closet where a trunk kept dust from covering the floor. The trunk slid easily out. It had not been that long since he had last organized it. Only a single hasp kept it closed. The top opened easily enough once the hasp was lifted. Within the trunk were some of the things Tenchi had collected over the years. He found the gift he had prepared right where he remembered putting it. Ryoko recognized Tenchi's mother's kimono. It was the one she had torn the sleeves from when she had worn it to impress him.

"I promise, if you stay, I'll try to... decide. Either way, I want you to have this."

"Tenchi..."

"Uhn-uh. Not another word. I want you to go get some rest. You'll feel better in the morning."

Tenchi held the kimono out to Ryoko. She carefully accepted the gift. That it had been his mother's meant a great deal to her. As she held it tightly against her chest, she could feel something wrapped inside.

"Okay." Ryoko accepted his offer before disappearing again.

Tenchi waited a couple of minutes before getting back into bed. Soon enough, he heard Ryoko's laughter when she unwrapped the old magazine he had included with the kimono. Aeka's voice issued from downstairs.

"Miss Ryoko! Stop that racket at once! People are trying to sleep!"

"Put a cork in it! I've got a good reason to be happy."

"Well, at least someone is entertained. What is so... My goodness! Return that magazine to Lord Tenchi's father, at once!"

"No way! Tenchi gave it to me!"

"Such lies! Lord Tenchi would never degenerate to such standards. You must have stolen it!"

"Oh! Getting jealous, are you?"

"Certainly not! How could I possibly be jealous of such filth?"

There was a short pause. Tenchi could envision Ryoko grinning from ear to ear, the point of one fang just visible.

_"Here comes a good one."_

"Simple. While I was gone, there was nothing better to look at."

"You fiend!"

"Truth hurts, don't it?"

"Errr!" Aeka takes a deep breath. "Out of respect for Lord Tenchi's feelings, I will not continue this argument. Please remain silent while the rest of us are asleep. Good night."

SLAM!

Washu stepped out of her dimensional portal into Zak's apartment. It was large for a single man in a small city. The space was occupied by a great deal of electronic equipment, which supported his assertion that he was self-employed as a consumer electronics repairman. So much for her "total scumbag" theory. In retrospect, she preferred that to the other possibilities. A voice from the common room spoke to her.

"Greetings, little Washu. Please, come in."

Washu carefully walked forward. The common room came fully into view, revealing Zak sitting cross-legged in the middle of the floor. His customers' equipment was piled up against the walls.

"I guess you've been expecting me."

"Yes. I was hoping, for Ryoko's benefit, that you wouldn't come." He sighed. "I guess she went back."

Washu scoffed at Zakaraia's lack of confidence in Ryoko's love for Tenchi.

"You thought otherwise?"

"No, but one can hope." He paused for a moment, considering. "Believe me, I'm not proud of deceiving Ryoko. She deserves better than that. If she had stayed away, I could allow her to live. She is... a rare and unique person."

Washu needed only a moment to sift through the information for pertinent facts. Most of it was irrelevant, yet, interesting to know.

"So you got in with the Masakis just to break her heart. You are truly pathetic."

"Yes, I am pathetic. But I also have a debt to repay. The life of your daughter is that payment."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that, because I can't let you kill her. She's too important."

Zak unfolded his legs and stood. Washu readied herself. She had not come looking for a fight. She just wanted to give the guy a piece of her mind and tell him to stay away from Ryoko.

_"Well, I might as well get it over with."_

Washu raised her right hand and fired an energy bolt at Zak. It struck an invisible shield. That was expected. What was not expected was the shape and the nature which that shape indicated.

The shield was pentagonal in shape and very elongated. When the bolt struck, it iridesced, revealing just how similar in shape it was to Tenchi's Light-Hawk Wings. Washu got the sense that she was in a great deal of trouble.

"Now do you understand?" Zak asked her. "I'll win this fight, no matter what it takes."

"Then what's Ryoko to you?"

Zak thought for a moment.

"I really tried to work this so no one had to get hurt. Ryoko's had a shitty life, and I want to give her the life she deserves. And I think she deserves better than some country kid who doesn't think twice about breaking her heart."

"You come in here for a couple of weeks and think you know everything? There's more going on here than you can possibly imagine."

"It doesn't matter. Soon she'll be dead. I want you to know, before I get rid of you, that she has to die because you convinced her to stay."

Washu decided it was time for action. But, when she tried to move, she found she was boxed in by a type of force field. She tried teleporting out, but none of her powers would work, either. Using the greatest scientific device ever created, the Mark 1 Optical Scanning Device (i.e., her eyes), she could just make out the dark lines of energy which clawed at the walls, floor, and ceiling around them.

"Goodbye, little Washu."

Washu tried desperately to reach Ryoko through the mental link. She had to be warned about the coming danger. But the links were completely blocked. She had no sense of anyone.

_"I'm sorry, little Ryoko. I totally underestimated him. Take care of Tenchi."_

Zak held his hand, palm up. A black ball formed in the hand. It floated towards Washu, expanding rapidly to two meters in diameter. It swallowed her, then disappeared, taking her with it.

END CHAPTER 6.

AFTERWORD: Danger, Tenchi Masaki, Danger!

Next, we get to the meat and potatoes of the volume. Zak's true intentions become known, as well as his true reason for getting involved with Ryoko.

I considered giving Ryoko her chance with Tenchi in this volume. The porno mag was the set-up. However, as I was writing the scene, I knew Aeka had to say something there. So they ended up having a bit of a friendly argument. It's cute, and it worked. So I left it as is.

Also, I originally had Tenchi accepting Aeka's "offer". But, after much thought and consideration, I decided not to do that. It's still too early for him to get that accommodating.


	14. From Whence Love Comes

****

INVASION Volume 2, Part 7: From Whence Love Comes.

DISCLAIMER: TENCHI MUYOU! is copyright AIC/Pioneer LDC. I do not claim any rights what-so-ever. However, this story is entirely of my own imagination and I ask that no changes be made. Feel free to distribute this story as freely as desired.

FOREWORD: Zak finally makes his move. The true action happens here. There's a little bit of naughty language about halfway through.

AUTHOR: Dreamr

EMAIL: TrueDreamr@Hotmail.com

LAST REVISION: 9 August 2002

BEGIN CHAPTER 7.

Looking around, Washu decided she did not like where she was. The terrain was rocky and devoid of vegetation. There was no color, only varying shades of gray. The flat blue sky seemed lifeless and dead. She immediately tried to establish mental contact with Ryoko. But the link was still mute. On the positive side, her powers were restored, not that they did her any good now. For once, Washu allowed herself a string of expletives that would have made a space pirate's ears bleed. Thus vented, she set to figuring out where she was and how to get home.

Standing before the small table in the hallway at home, Tenchi held the telephone receiver to his head. The phone number to Zak's apartment lay on a ragged piece of paper before him. He had waited until the next morning to phone Zak and tell him Ryoko had returned again. However, that was not his only reason for calling. It was time they had a serious talk about Ryoko.

Objectively, Tenchi could not object if Zak tried to get involved with Ryoko. But now that he had had his way with her through deceit, he would no longer sit idly by. Ryoko did not deserve to be treated that way. He punched the numbers into the phone. As expected, Zak answered almost immediately.

"Zak's. How can I help?"

"It's Tenchi."

"Did you find Ryoko?"

Now that he knew the truth about what had happened, Tenchi regretted having called Zak, looking for Ryoko after she had left again.

"She came back last night."

"Thank God. But, you should have called right away. I've been worried sick."

Tenchi hesitated as he thought of a response.

"She needed some rest. Look. Why don't you come over for dinner. There's... something we should talk about."

There was a long pause on the other end before Zak responded.

"All right. Will six be okay?"

"Fine. I'll see you then." Tenchi hung up without waiting for a reply. He was nervous about what he was thinking of doing. But it had to be done. Zak had struck a bad chord with him from the beginning. There was a certain word that expressed Tenchi's dislike for him perfectly, although he was too polite to actually say it. The word he was thinking of was "asshole".

Zak put the handset back in it's place on the receiver. He inhaled deeply, then sighed.

_"So, it's come to this."_ He regretfully shook his head. _"I really tried to make it easy for you, Ryoko. But you kept going back to that damn kid. I don't understand what you see in him."_

Zak went into the other room and opened a small metal lock box he had kept out of sight in his dresser until recently. Within, lay a vial which contained a substance that, when swallowed, would send a person down a slow road to death.

_"Dinner is it? Stupid kid."_

It was Aeka who answered the door when Zak rang the doorbell.

"Good evening, Zakaraia."

"Evening."

"Please come in. Lord Tenchi said to expect you."

"Thanks." Zak entered the Masaki home. He took off his coat and hung it on one of the wall-pegs provided for that purpose.

"If I may," Aeka addressed Zak in a quiet voice, "I feel I must mention that while I do not disagree with you removing the source of a bad influence on Lord Tenchi from this home, it would be very bad if Ryoko were to become excessively angry. I have witnessed first-hand her destructive capabilities and do not wish to repeat the experience."

"Well, rest easy, Aeka. I have no intention of getting Ryoko that mad at me."

"Indeed." Aeka examined him intently for several seconds before turning to conduct him to the main room.

Zak decided he was going to have to be very careful with what he said during dinner. Aeka sounded like she suspected something was amiss with his advances towards Ryoko. But at this point, it was not important. Everything would be finished tonight, one way or the other.

Conspicuous in her absence was Ryoko. When Zak asked about her, Tenchi explained she had begged off of dinner due to an upset stomach.

Zak spoke politely with the Masaki family members for a while as he waited for an opportunity to implement his plan. Eventually his requirement was met when Sasami asked Tenchi if he could keep an eye on the cooking food while she got some fresh garlic from upstairs. Zak jumped at the opportunity.

"I'll take care of it!"

Tenchi and Sasami looked at him in surprise.

"I feel kind of guilty for coming over all the time and not helping out. I'll keep an eye on things. I might not know the difference between ground garlic and white pepper, but I do know what to do if something threatens to boil over."

"Um, okay." Sasami agreed. "Sorry, Tenchi."

"Ah, it's okay. I don't mind." Tenchi warily eyed Zak as his guest passed him to join Sasami in the kitchen. Sasami quickly pointed out to Zak what was cooking.

"Okay, the noodles are boiling and the veggies are cooking. Just like you said, make sure nothing boils over. Oh, and don't worry about the meat, that'll go in last."

"Sure thing."

"Great. I'll be right back." Sasami rushed out the kitchen door.

Zak wasted no time. He quickly drew the vial of powder from his pocket and emptied the contents into the boiling noodles. The now empty vial immediately went into the trash. He picked up the wooden spoon lying on the counter and began carefully stirring the spiked noodles. True to her word, Sasami was back in short order.

"Everything okay?"

"Yup."

"Thanks, Zak." The diminutive cook took the spoon from his hand and used it to stir the vegetables. "Um... can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"You really like Ryoko, don't you?"

Zak was a little surprised. He had not expected Sasami to be so interested in his relationship with Ryoko. His policy of telling the truth as much as possible had kept him from being caught so far, so there was little reason to lie now. He adopted a very self-reflective look.

"Yeah."

"That's cute. But, how come she's so upset lately?"

"I... think she's mad at me."

"You should apologize if you make someone mad."

"Mmm. Do you know where she is?"

"Well, usually, when Ryoko's upset, she goes out on the roof."

Zak smiled.

"Of course. Thanks." He flew up through the ceiling.

"Oh, wait!" Sasami called to Zak. "I didn't get to tell you how Tenchi feels, yet."

A splatter of boiling water drew Sasami's attention back to her cooking.

Zak carefully settled onto the roof of the Masaki home. Just as he had found her on the shrine weeks ago, Ryoko now lay on the spine of this building as well. She did not fail to notice his arrival. As light as his touchdown was, her hearing still detected it.

"Back for more?" She sarcastically asked.

"Ryoko," Zak began. But she headed off his speech before he could even begin it.

"Would you just leave? I've told you a bunch of times already, I'm not interested."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I thought that if we were together, you would understand how I felt."

Ryoko listened only because she was unsure of whether or not Zak had truly deceived her, or if she had actually mistaken him for Tenchi. It was almost inconceivable that she had made such a terrible mistake. It had not been **that** dark. But, if it was her fault, she would not hold Zak responsible. The response she had gotten was exactly what she had been looking for.

"You don't have to be alone. We can be together, you and me, forever."

"I'm not alone." Ryoko replied as Zak made his way across the roof to sit down next to her.

When Zak sat down to Ryoko's left, he placed his right hand on the far side of her waist, and tried to explain his feelings while gently rubbing her side.

"Ryoko, I love you, and I want to share that feeling with you."

Ryoko sighed. She had had enough of Zak's tactics. He had gotten her in enough trouble already.

"If you don't keep your hands off me, I'll forget we used to be friends."

The gentle touch she was protesting against quickly withdrew.

"You don't really mean that, do you?"

Ryoko declined to answer.

"I'm sorry."

"All right, already. Just... go eat your dinner."

"Am I forgiven?"

Pause.

"I'll think about it."

"Are we still friends, at least?"

Ryoko growled in exasperation.

"I said I'd think about it, all right? Just leave me alone."

Zak looked at her for a long moment before acquiescing to her wishes.

"All right. But, you should come eat dinner, at least."

Again, Ryoko did not answer.

"I'll bring it up for you, if you like."

Ryoko finally lost her patience with the amorous young man. She sat up and gave him an angry look.

"All right, I'll go eat dinner! Now quit bugging me!"

"Okay, okay." Zak said, phasing through the roof as Ryoko flopped onto her back. Halfway through the red tiles, he stopped.

"I want you to know that I never lied. Not even once."

"What are you talking about?"

Ryoko's response still seemed annoyed. Zak ruthlessly suppressed the feelings he was experiencing.

"I... can't say. See you at dinner." He floated back to the third floor, where he paused to recover his composure.

_"Damn it! Forget about it! It's already done."_

As she had claimed, Ryoko did show up at dinner. She seemed rather reserved, but at least she ate her customary four servings. Things in general were pleasant, but, again, reserved. There was not a great deal of small talk. Soon after finishing, Ryoko found her place up in the rafters. Tenchi helped Sasami clean up and the rest of the family talked with Zak about little things.

Eventually, Tenchi found himself needing to use the restroom. After taking care of business, he took the long way downstairs, using to balcony above the main room. He chose that route because it would allow him to check on Ryoko. She was lying on one of the support beams, front down, wistfully gazing at the people below her. Tenchi followed her watchful stare to Zak.

Somehow, Zak sensed that he was being watched. He turned his head and looked up at him. He looked at Tenchi for a moment before returning his attention to the others and saying his good-byes. Tenchi made his way down the stairs to escort Zak to the door.

"I'll walk you out."

None of the girls took notice of this, although Tenchi's grandfather did raise an eyebrow. Once they were out the door, Zak stopped to initiate the discussion he knew Tenchi wanted with him.

"Okay, let me guess. You don't want me seeing Ryoko anymore."

For a moment, Tenchi stared at him in surprise before confirming Zak's statement.

"Well, yes."

Zak defiantly put his hands on his hips and glared at Tenchi.

"Since when do you make decisions like that for her?"

"It's my choice. **I** don't want you seeing her."

"Ah. I see. And what if I say "tough"?"

Exercising great patience, Tenchi took a deep breath before continuing. He kept his arms down at his sides in a nonthreatening manner. Zak did not seem to be taking this too well.

"Zak, go home. Don't come here any more."

"Well, it's your place. So if you want to kick me out, you can. But you can't stop me from seeing her elsewhere."

Tenchi stared hard at Zak for a couple of seconds before deciding to be a little more forceful.

"Leave her alone."

"Maybe you should ask Ryoko how she feels about this."

"We talked last night and she told me she thought you were me. That's all I need to know."

Zak's eyes narrowed.

"Well, I know how I feel, and I'm not giving up that easily. If you want her back, you're going to have to fight me for her."

Zak held his right hand out to his side. A ball of red energy appeared. He squeezed the ball, forcing it to elongate into an energy sword almost exactly like Ryoko's.

Tenchi sighed with regret. He had not wanted to have to fight. But, somehow, he had known it would end like this. Reluctantly, he pulled the Master Key from his pocket. Taking up a strong base stance, Tenchi held the sword in front of him with both hands. The blade ignited, illuminating the side of the house with blue light.

Zak charged. Just as he initiated the first strike, Ryoko appeared between them. She easily blocked the sword strike, and then shoved him back a couple of steps. She angrily glared at him.

"If you want to fight Tenchi, you have to go through me, first."

Zak tried convincing her to move aside.

"Ryoko, please get out of the way."

Ryoko stood with her sword held in front of her, ready for anything.

"What am I?" She rebuked him. "A piece of meat for you to fight over? I already told you a million times, I'm not interested!"

Zak casually tapped his sword against his shoulder.

"You seemed pretty interested on the roof the other night."

Ryoko squeezed and twisted at her sword, making it spit and crackle noisily. The hissing matched the growl that emanated from her throat.

"I was, until you tricked me. The more I think about it, the more I think you're trying to get me away from Tenchi."

One of Zak's eyebrows went up.

"Well, yeah. I want to be with you. At least I'm giving you a choice. If it were up to Tenchi, you'd be locked up in this house twenty four-seven! You don't have to stay here."

In a gesture of peace, Zak allowed his sword to dissipate.

"Ryoko, come back to my place. Remember how much fun we had? It can be that way for as long as you want! All you have to do is come with me. Please?"

Zak held his arms open for her.

"I love you, Ryoko. I want to share my life with you."

Ryoko shivered as Zak professed his feelings to her. She could think of nothing else she wanted more than what he was offering to her. The sight of her sword slowly drooping was obscured by the wetness that was accumulating within her eyes.

"Ryoko," Tenchi put his hand on her shoulder, "you were always free to leave any time you wanted. If you want to live someplace else, or with someone else, you can. We'd be sad to see you go. But, I understand if that's what you want."

Ryoko looked to the house and saw that the entire family was watching her. Mihoshi was already in tears. She held a hanky in one hand, dabbing at her eyes. Sasami and Aeka stood one in front of the other. Sasami looked very supportive. Surprisingly, so was Aeka. It was a little strange to see Aeka looking at her that way. In the back was the man who had imprisoned her in that dark cave for so many years. Their eyes met, and he gave her a short nod. Ryoko's eyes went wide.

_"Even Yosho supports me. Oh, man, I think I'm gonna cry."_

From behind her, Tenchi spoke again.

"There's one thing that Zak and I agree on. It's your choice, not ours."

"My choice. Hmm... Let me think..." She thought for less than two seconds before coming to a decision.

**"I choose TENCHI!"**

Ryoko dropped her sword and threw her arms around Tenchi's neck. For once, Tenchi was not embarrassed or reluctant to accept her embrace. He did not hesitate to put his arms around her in return as she whispered in his ear.

"I love you so much."

"I know."

The sound of an energy sword igniting brought Tenchi back to the events at hand. Aeka's voice cried out to him.

"Look out!"

Time slowed to a bare crawl. As Tenchi opened his eyes, he saw Zak charging them with his sword held pointed at Ryoko's back. Anger, and the all-consuming need to protect someone he cared for, flowed through him. That inner energy flowed out of his being and took solid form between them. The Light-Hawk Wings burst into existence, protecting Ryoko from the attack.

Zak was unable to stop his headlong rush in time to avoid a collision. Wide-eyed, he stared in disbelief as Tenchi blasted him across the landscape with barely a thought. His scream of rage and disbelief echoed from the hills as he disappeared over the mountains. Tenchi returned his attention to Ryoko.

"Are you all right?"

Ryoko cuddled happily into his chest.

"That guy was a real asshole, wasn't he?"

Tenchi chuckled when Ryoko used the same descriptive term he had been thinking of.

"Something like that."

"Lord Tenchi," Aeka asked of Tenchi, "is Zakaraia to be allowed within the premises from now on?"

"Absolutely not." Tenchi firmly answered.

"Well, it's about time. Azaka! Kamidake!"

The two Guardians of Jurai appeared almost instantly.

"Finally, we get a part." Azaka observed.

Kamidake also commented on the long stretch without any mention of their existence.

"I was beginning to think we had been forgotten!"

"Zakaraia is not to be allowed onto the premises under any circumstances. Is that clear?"

"Perfectly clear, Highness."

"We understand, Highness."

There was a long moment of silence while nothing happened. Someone coughed in the background. Katsuhito gently elbowed Mihoshi in the arm.

"Oh! That's right! I have a line here!" She opened her mouth again to speak, but nothing came out. "Oh, no! I forgot my line!"

Ryoko screeched her indignation. She was in Mihoshi's face almost instantly.

"AAAHHH! That line was my set-up to score with Tenchi, you inconsiderate nincompoop!"

"I'm sorry, Ryoko, I..." Mihoshi was suddenly overtaken by a tremendous yawn. "YAAAAAWWWWNNNN! Oh, my. It must be getting late."

Yawns, being as contagious as they are, quickly started making the rounds of the family.

"Ah, the heck with it. Let's just forget the whole scene." Ryoko suggested, heading into the house for the recently rebuilt baths. "I made some changes in the bath house. Who's coming with me?"

All the girls except Sasami agreed. Another yawn prompted her to opt for her futon, instead.

"I'd love to, but I'm feeling really sleepy. I think I'd better get some sleep."

"Suit yourself. Anybody seen Washu?"

There were several negative answers.

"Hey, Tenchi." Ryoko suddenly offered, with a sly look. "You can join us if you want."

"Ah, no. Thank you." He answered, also yawning again. "I think I'm going to call it a night, too."

"Everybody's pooped out." Mihoshi remarked as she, Ryoko, and Aeka made their way into the baths.

"Well, it's no wonder." Aeka explained. "The author has had us going at a ridiculous pace this last week."

"No kidding." Ryoko remarked. "Have you read the script for the rest of the volume? What's he trying to do, kill us?"

"I want some comedy!" Mihoshi complained.

_(Sorry, girls. I'll see what I can do. D.)_

Zak carefully extricated himself from the fallen trees and rubble which constituted his destination, 39 kilometer from the Masaki Shrine. The blast he had taken was the strongest he had ever witnessed. For once, he was thankful of the protection his powers offered him. Unfortunately, those powers were also the calling card of his patron, and the mission her minion had assigned him.

He had been truly shocked to see a mere boy from some backwater planet generate Light-Hawk wings. Such a development was unprecedented. Nothing in his past experiences held any clue as to how he should deal with this. However, the instructions he had received now made a lot more sense. He shouted at the heavens before teleporting back to his apartment.

"'Do not fight against the boy.' No shit, Sherlock. You could have at least warned me!"

It would take an hour or so for the poison he had given them to take effect. In the interim, he had a few preparations to make before he returned to the Masaki house.

Two hours later, when darkness finally fell, Zak penetrated the sensor net the two guardians employed to monitor the perimeter of the Masaki family's home. His powers, and his expertise in the field of high-tech electronics gave him the tools to deal with many different types of security systems. He had seen more elaborate security set-ups than this on backwards industrial planets.

The first place he looked for Ryoko was on the roof. However, she was not there. He quickly moved on to the interior of the house. The television was on, and Ryo-o-ki was stretched out on the floor, unconscious. Zak intentionally avoided looking at the little girl's form. As he descended through the ceiling beams, he did not see Ryoko. His next stop was her room. Ryoko was not there, either. He scratched his head in confusion.

A blinding ball of blue energy suddenly raced towards him from the adjoining hallway. Zak barely got a shield up in time to protect himself. The energy washed over his shield, making the floor boards smoke. He stood ready for the next attack. Surprisingly, his attacker willingly revealed herself.

"I knew it was you who was responsible for this." Aeka said as she stepped into Ryoko's room. She was dressed to fight and her guardians were at the ready. Zak looked at her in surprise.

"You should be unconscious."

"Let me think, now... Ah! You must have poisoned the food while you were alone in the kitchen."

"Very perceptive of you, Princess. But, I admit I'm curious. You ate dinner with the rest of us. How did you avoid being poisoned?"

"My affiliation with my tree protects me."

"Oh, yes. The famed Royal Trees of Jurai. I hadn't considered that. Unfortunately, this means we'll have to do it the hard way."

Aeka's smile held a strong dose of danger.

"I was hoping you would say that. Azaka! Kamidake! Execute him!"

The two guardians surged forward. They got three-quarters of the way across the room before striking an incredibly strong energy field. The room suddenly got very dark. So dark, in fact, that it was almost impossible to see. Black arcs of energy crackled around the guardians, holding them in place. Zak gloated over the ease of defeated the automated beings.

"This is too easy. I could defeat an entire legion of these silly things. Hah!"

Aeka's guardians were suddenly flung back against the far wall. They struck with a tremendous crunch, sending sparks flying everywhere. The did not resume their attack. Aeka looked over her shoulder at the mess.

"Why do these things always have to happen next to my room?"

Then she noticed that Ryoko's "Wall of Junk" had been destroyed in the attack. 

"Miss Ryoko is going to be frightfully angry when she sees her possessions have been damaged."

"She's going to be pissed, anyway. So that doesn't really matter anymore. Aeka, just tell me where she is."

"Absolutely not! You've poisoned the entire household! For that, you shall be punished!" This time, Aeka charged Zak herself. Her mother was considered one of the best martial artists on Jurai, and had taught her at an early age. Knowing that Zak possessed powers similar to Ryoko, she used tactics that would be effective against Ryoko in order to fight Zak.

Aeka swung and kicked at Zak with her Jurai-energy-covered hands and feet. If any one of those areas came in contact with him, it would cause him severe damage. He expertly blocked or deflected each attack, keeping himself safe from harm. When she went for a kick to the groin, their shins clacked painfully together. Aeka leapt back, hopping up and down on one foot and holding her bruised shin.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!"

"Uh, excuse me. We're supposed to be fighting here, not dancing."

"Silence, infidel!" Aeka yelled at him, resuming a ready position. "I'll have your head!"

She charged again. This time, Zak did not bother to fight Aeka on her own terms. He shot into the air. Aeka looked up and saw Zak was already coming back down from the rafters with some sort of dark weapon in his hands. Unsure of what else to do against such a strange-looking weapon, Aeka slapped her hands together and caught the blade in her hands, demonstrating just how powerful she really was. Unfortunately, she was not powerful enough.

Despite the Jurai energy that surrounded Aeka's hands, they immediately felt as if she had stuck them in a blast furnace. Leaping back with a screech of pain, she rubbed her hands, trying desperately to get rid of the burning sensation.

Zak swept past her just as she looked up. He hit her with the flat of the blade, sparing her life. However, she was not spared the pain of contact with his sword. Her entire body felt on fire. She tried to scream, but the incredible pain made her jaw clench shut, preventing the sound from escaping. The blade was suddenly removed, and she collapsed to the floor in a shuddering pile of pain. Zak stood over her, the tip of his blade swaying just over her mid-section.

"Sorry, Princess. It's nothing personal."

On rare occasions, Ryoko heard voices while reclining in the branches of the Royal Tree, Funaho. Usually, they were voices of laughing children, or puppies barking. Until she had been aboard Karin, she had thought she was going crazy from being imprisoned for so long. Now she knew it had something to do with the trees. Her usual schedule normally included spending the Spring reclining amongst the cherry blossoms that adorned the trees lining the path to the shrine. Since the time of the cherry blossoms had passed, she was back in Funaho's branches again.

A screech of pain intruded on the delightful sounds, forcing Ryoko to take notice of her environment. There was flash of light from the house. Figuring it was Aeka throwing a royal temper-tantrum, she went to have a little fun with the princess.

When Ryoko teleported onto one of the overhead beams in the main room, the first thing she noticed was how dark it was inside. Then she noticed Ryo-o-ki sprawled on the floor. Ryoko stayed absolutely still and did not make a sound as she scanned the room. There was a bit of motion from her room. Looking closer, she saw a male figure moving away from someone lying prone on the floor. As the shadow moved away, she teleported next to the person lying on the floor. At close range, she could see it was Aeka. She had her battle suit on, and dark liquid was slowly spreading across the floor. Ryoko looked up and saw that the back wall had been caved in by the damaged guardians. Her "Wall of Junk" was completely destroyed. With hardly a thought, Ryoko's sword responded to her summons. The man that was apparently responsible spun around when he heard Ryoko's sword ignite. Zak quickly spoke to her before she could attack.

"She'll live if you come with me!"

"Where's Tenchi?" Ryoko hissed through clenched teeth.

"He's been poisoned. He'll die, too, if you don't do as I say."

Ryoko shook with rage. She wanted to kill Zak here and now. But if she did, the others might die, as well.

"What do you want?"

"All you have to do is come with me, and stay away from here. If you do that, everyone lives. If not, then everyone dies."

"You son of a bitch! How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"Ryoko, I have never lied to you. Right now, I have Washu trapped in an alternate dimension. Once we reach our destination, I'll let her out. She'll then administer an antidote. Don't bother trying to find one yourself, it doesn't exist. She has to invent it."

"I swear, the first chance I get, I'll kill you."

"If you try, then I'll have to kill you. And I really don't want to do that. Of course, if I don't tell you that I've released Washu, you won't know if I have. So I don't recommend you try it."

There was a long moment of silence as Ryoko considered her options. Zak had her pretty much sewn up tight. No matter she did, if she disobeyed him, her friends would die. She would have to spend a long time with him before she could be reasonably certain that the others were out of danger.

"How long do they have?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Dammit! Then how do I know if you let them live?"

"You don't. You have to stay with me because you don't know if they've been cured. I'll give you one consolation. Aeka's connection with her tree protected her from the poison. Her wound is not fatal, but she could die if she does not receive medical attention. Eventually, these people are going to be missed. Most likely Katsuhito or Nobuyuki will get here and find her."

Zak paused as he contemplated the intricacies of his plan, making sure he had left nothing out.

"Ah. Almost forgot something."

"Just my luck." Ryoko sarcastically remarked.

"You have to wear this from now on." Zak reached into his shirt and pulled out a small collar. It was almost fancy enough to call a necklace, with all the gold filigree and the small amber that dangled from it.

"It blocks your mental communication abilities. That way you won't know from Washu or anyone else if they've been cured. If you take it off, I'll know."

Ryoko glared hatefully at him. Zak tried softening the blow with some gentle words.

"I don't like killing people. It's a waste of good life. Please, come with me. Let them live. I promise I won't treat you poorly. We can even start a family together."

"I'd rather eat shit than have your kids."

"Fine. Then choose. Spend your life with me, or send your friends to the grave. Which is it?"

Ryoko had no choice but to demonstrate her reluctant acceptance of the situation. A tear rolled down her cheek as she held the collar to her throat with one hand and secured the fasteners in the rear with the other. 

"You win."

"Tenchi."

Tenchi heard his name through a haze of mental pain. Something was wrong. His mind seemed to be resisting conscious thought. He wondered if maybe Ryoko had made him drink last night. Then Tenchi remembered Ryoko was gone. She had gone to live with Zak.

_"No." _Tenchi rejected the idea. _"She came back. She came back to be with me." _He struggled to regain consciousness.

"Tenchi." The voice called again. He finally identified the voice as Washu.

"Come on, Tenchi. We need your help. Wake up for me, will you?"

Tenchi pushed hard against the mind numbing pain. It did not feel like real pain. It only hurt when he pushed.

_"They need me!"_ Tenchi pushed as hard as he could, regardless of whatever pain he felt. His eyes opened.

"There you are." Washu was leaning over him. "For a minute I thought I was too late."

Looking around, Tenchi noticed they were the only ones in his room.

"Where is everybody?"

"Can you stand?"

"Yes." He answered without thinking.

"All right, come on. There isn't much time." Washu slapped some strange cylindrical device in Tenchi's hand. He blearily looked at it.

"What's going on?"

"I have bad news. We'll talk about it on the way."

"Washu, tell me." Tenchi demanded as he rose from his bed. The pain in his head was rapidly fading away.

"The whole family's been poisoned, and if we don't hurry, Sasami will be the first to die."

Tenchi leapt to his feet.

"You should have treated her first!"

"I know. But I have to talk to you alone." Washu explained as she led Tenchi downstairs. "All you have to do is put that device to their neck and push the red button once, and ONLY once. Any more will kill them as surely as the poison."

Tenchi moved faster. Upon reaching the second floor balcony, he could see Ryo-o-ki passed-out in front of the still working television.

"What about Ryo-o-ki?" He asked.

"She can wait. You get Mihoshi. She's up in her room."

Tenchi hurried upstairs and found Mihoshi curled up in her bed. This room was his father's old study. Since Mihoshi had arrived after the first three girls, Nobuyuki had given his room to her. He needed to live closer to his work, anyway, so he rented an apartment in town during the week.

Tenchi used the device as he had been instructed. Other than a slight hiss, there was no outward sign of any change within Mihoshi. Unsure of what else to do, he went back downstairs to the room Sasami and her sister shared. He could hear Washu quietly whispering to Sasami. It somehow reminded him of when she took care of little Taro.

"Come on, Sasami, wake up. Wake up for little Washu."

When Sasami finally stirred, Washu visibly relaxed. When she stood up and saw Tenchi just standing there, she was quick to admonish him.

"What are you doing just standing there? Go help Ryo-o-ki!"

Tenchi practically ran down the stairs to the first floor to help the next victim. Washu followed close until they reached the child-like creature. As Tenchi repeated the treatment, his thoughts turned to the others. He knew his father was at his apartment in town for the week. That left Aeka, Ryoko, and Grandpa.

"Where are the others?" Tenchi asked.

Washu gently pushed Ryo-o-ki's hair back with one hand.

"Lord Katsuhito's fine. His connection with the Royal Tree Funaho should have protected him. He's probably up at the shrine being pious or something.

Sitting at the shrine desk, Katsuhito was listening to the small radio he kept in his office. He had noticed a lack of activity coming from the house.

"Things sure are quiet tonight."

"As for the other two..." Washu finally rose from her place next to Sasami. "I'll show you Aeka."

Tenchi followed Washu as she led him into her lab. A sense of dread grew within him at each step. Tenchi found Aeka on a lab table, surrounded by a soft blue glow. She was covered by a simple white sheet across her chest and hips while a strange, multi-appendaged machine suspended above the table, worked with blinding speed on a huge gash across her stomach. Washu gave Tenchi the prognosis.

"She lost a lot of blood, but with my expert medical attention, she'll make a full recovery."

Tenchi would not normally stare at a person, clothed or otherwise. However, he wanted to engrave the sight of Aeka, lying gravely injured, into his mind.

"Who did this?"

"Tenchi, I wasn't here when this happened, but I'm almost positive it was Zak. I went to have it out with him about Ryoko after she came back the second time. I don't know how he did it, but he locked me in the eighth dimension. Not that that was a big problem. My lab exists in twelve dimensions. So manipulating dimensional barriers is almost second nature to me. I was gone for less than twenty four hours."

"It was long enough. Where's Ryoko?"

Washu was reluctant to answer.

"Washu!"

"Gone."

Tenchi hung his head. Sensing his confusion, Washu asked him a question.

"Tell me, Tenchi, do you trust Ryoko?"

"I... want to."

"No." Washu disagreed. "You either do, or you don't. Choose."

"How can I? Everything's so screwed-up, lately! This is the third time Ryoko's run away! What if she doesn't want to come back? For crying out loud, Washu! She lived with him for almost two weeks! She even..." Tenchi stopped himself as he became aware that he was ranting.

"...had sex with him?" Washu finished the sentence.

Tenchi shut his eyes tight. He had been able to deal with the pain of Ryoko's confession, only because he had been prepared for it by Funaho. Now he had to deal with that pain. The thought of Ryoko and Zak together sent lancets of pain through his chest until he could not take it anymore. Tenchi shunted his thoughts towards happier memories.

He remembered how they all had met, and the adventures they had shared together. He remembered twice rescuing Ryoko from the clutches of evil scientists. He remembered everyone going on an interstellar treasure hunt, only to find some mysterious man from Ryoko's past who was apparently still in love with her. He especially remembered how that knowledge had made him feel. He remembered all the demands he had made of Ryoko during the family's trip to Jurai for Aeka's unintended wedding. He remembered being rescued from the cruel torture of terrorists. He remembered Ryoko saving his life from a gang of thugs. That time he had witnessed, first-hand, Ryoko's full fury as she defended him, leaving the men literally in pieces. Most of all, he remembered how his lack of trust and understanding had driven Ryoko to leave the only family she had ever known.

Tenchi lifted his eyes to meet Washu's gaze.

"There are a lot of things I don't trust Ryoko with. But, there are a few very important things I do trust her with. Please, Washu. Tell me where she is."

"I wish I knew." Washu revealed. "Like I said. Zak blasted me into the eighth dimension when I went to have a little talk with him."

"Is she in danger?" Tenchi asked, suddenly worried.

"Great danger." Washu verified.

The door to the lab opened.

"Mya?"

Tenchi and Washu turned to see Ryo-o-ki dragging herself into the lab. Washu held out her arms.

"Come to mommy."

The little girl waddled unsteadily into Washu's outstretched arms.

"Myaa..."

"I know. Listen, this is really important."

Ryo-o-ki craned her head to look up at Washu's face.

"I need you to take Tenchi to Ryoko. Can you still tell where she is?"

"Mya."

"Good girl. Remember, this is very important. Do whatever Tenchi says, no matter what, okay?"

"Myah mya."

"Yes, that's right."

Washu continued her explanation mentally.

_"No matter what happens, don't let her stay with Zak. It's more important than anything, even our lives."_

"Mya?"

"They're finally realizing their true potential. Don't let Zak get in the way."

"Mya."

Ryo-o-ki turned around in Washu's hands.

"Mya mya mya!"

Washu translated for Tenchi.

"She promises to help."

"Thanks, Ryo-o-ki." Tenchi sighed in relief. "Finally, I can do something."

Ryo-o-ki sped through space, hot on Zak's trail. Tenchi did not know, nor did he care how Zak and Ryoko had gotten off-planet. His only purpose was to safely bring Ryoko back.

"Ryo-o-ki, can you go faster?"

"Mya."

"Do you know how much longer it'll be?"

The response seemed less than enthusiastic.

"Myaan."

Tenchi's questions were more for his own benefit than anyone else's. It was clear where their destination was. An entire galaxy spun before them in all it's interstellar magnificence. Not knowing when they would reach their destination was torture. Tenchi remained silent for a while, allowing his anger towards Zak to fester.

"Ryo-o-ki," he asked out of the blue, "am I doing the right thing?"

"Mya myah!"

He interpreted the cat-like sounds as a positive response. Still, he had some doubts.

"But what if she left voluntarily? What if she wanted to go with him?"

This elicited a series of sounds from Ryo-o-ki that Tenchi could make no sense of.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're saying."

To his surprise, a strange pedestal rose up from the floor in front of him. Two spheres floated to either side of the flared top. They spun around the pedestal once, then remained still.

"Okay..." Tenchi experimentally put his hands on the spheres. His mind was immediately flooded by Ryo-o-ki's thoughts and feelings.

_"Yes, you're doing the right thing! Ryoko really loves you. We have to bring her back. Zak's mean. He hurt Aeka. You should beat him up."_

Tenchi's determination solidified.

"We'll bring Ryoko back, no matter what!"

"All right, Zak. We've been flying through space long enough. Is Tenchi safe?"

"You know I won't answer that."

Ryoko quickly changed tracks as stars streaked by in the small viewscreen.

"It's hard to imagine a way to trap Washu so that she can't escape."

"It's not that hard. Kagato did it."

"How do you know about that?"

Zak leaned back in his chair as he held up a finger.

"That, I can explain. I broke into Washu's lab near Jurai and made off with the records. Apparently, Kagato took over operation of the station after he imprisoned her. The records end when he launched the Souja."

Ryoko was quickly slipping into interrogation mode. Any information she could get from Zak would help her figure out what to do to escape her situation.

"Was there anything in there about me?"

"That's why I was there. It's kind of funny, actually. Some anonymous contact contracted me for that job. All I had to do was enter an abandoned lab and retrieve some information. There was no security or weird encryption schemes or anything. The payoff was huge, too. While I was retrieving the info, I found some pictures of a cute little girl with the strangest color hair and eyes."

Zak looked at Ryoko as he said the next part.

"That cute little girl has grown into a beautiful woman."

Ryoko waited a minute before beginning a new line of questioning.

"So, first you take Washu, now me."

Zak nodded.

"'Fraid so."

"Did you fuck her, too?"

"Ryoko, please don't talk like that."

"Who's next? Aeka? Or do you like 'em young? Sasami, maybe?"

"That's enough!" Zak finally lost his cool. "You know what it's like being a puppet dancing on the strings of manipulation! If I get you away from Tenchi, permanently, I get my freedom." Zak stuck his left thumb against his chest, indicating he was referring to himself. "Sasami's a wonderful young lady, and so are you. I wish there was another way, but there isn't. This is it."

He raised a finger to his lips, as if he were deep in thought.

"My... benefactor... originally wanted you dead. But once I started getting to know you, I convinced her that simply separating the two of you would be sufficient. Be thankful you're allowed to live."

Ryoko snarled at him.

"You sorry son of a bitch! Who the hell gave you permission to buy and sell my life?"

Zak looked at Ryoko for a moment before answering.

"Tokimi."

"Tokimi?" The name meant nothing to Ryoko. "Show her to me and I'll crash this whole pathetic party, right now!"

Zak laughed at her.

"You wish! Tokimi is a super-dimensional being. A God, Ryoko. Even you can't touch her. Besides that, you'd have to get through her servant, first."

"Let me guess. He's a God, too."

Zak just smiled with amusement.

"Something like that. Whatever his status, you'll get a crack at D3 soon enough."

Ryoko made sure to remember the names Tokimi and D3 before she moved on to another line of questioning.

"Pretty fancy ship for someone who was marooned on a backwater planet for fifty years."

Zak smiled at his own inventiveness.

"Too easy. All I had to do was build a hyperspace transmitter and let the ship follow the signal. I have to admit though, I was a little worried that it wouldn't respond to my signal. It has been fifty years, after all. It hasn't got much in the way of offense or defense. But it's faster than hell and has the best navigation systems available. It shouldn't take too long to get to our first stop. From there, we can go where ever we want."

Zak glanced at Ryoko out of the corner of his eye.

"How about a nice resort planet? Sun and fun?"

Ryoko turned away. For the time being, she buried her anger, rather than lashing out at Zak and making him pay for the pain he was inflicting upon her. But, for Tenchi's sake, she held it in, saving it for the right time.

Ryo-o-ki was straining herself to reach Ryoko as quickly as possible. She remembered the basic layout of the local cluster, and the galaxy before her had not been there seven hundred years ago.

"Ryo-o-ki," Tenchi interrupted her thoughts, "how much longer will it take?"

"Myah." Again, her response was less than encouraging.

"Would it be all right if I took a nap?"

"Mya!" Ryo-o-ki was receptive to the idea. This was a task she could easily help Tenchi with. A bed mystically appeared behind him, confirming her positive response.

"Thanks. Wake me up if anything happens, all right?"

"Myooow."

When Tenchi laid down on the bed, he found it to be very comfortable. He was just drifting off when he realized the irony of the situation. Now it was he who was sleeping in Ryoko's bed, instead of the other way around.

Ryoko watched as amazing sights passed by. Huge Greek columns hung in space, suspended by nothing. A vast ocean stretched out below them as they rode some strange version of conveyor belt to their destination. They stood on the flat surface of a sheet of metal which formed a ring around an empty point in space. There was no apparent propulsion system, yet it moved effortlessly through the air. Ryoko blinked in surprise when a whale breached the water's surface.

She quickly put the weird experience out of her mind. The only thing that mattered was the people at her destination. They would die by her hand. She began thinking of the different ways she knew of disemboweling a person.

Tenchi was awakened when gravity suddenly went haywire. He was thrown several feet into the air, then came crashing down on the bed. Quickly recovering, he looked around.

"What? What's going on?"

"Mya myah!"

Tenchi noticed the ships. Uncountable lines of the same ships that had attempted to invade Jurai extended far into space. There were so many, he could not even begin to try and count them. They floated serenely, ignoring Ryo-o-ki's passage.

"This must be where those ships from before came from."

As Ryo-o-ki continued on in a straight line, Tenchi's eyes grew wide at the surrealistic scenery that passed. Massive columns and waterways flashed by as they neared their objective.

"Myah! Mya myan!"

A square viewscreen appeared before Tenchi, revealing scores of ships following them.

"Can you lose them?"

The ground features streaked by at an even faster rate.

"Mya-a-a-a!" The strain of maintaining such incredible speed began to show in Ryo-o-ki's voice. However, the trailing ships began to recede.

As the odd surroundings quickly passed by, Tenchi noticed a plain, white, dome ahead. When they got closer, he discovered it looked just like an igloo. He scratched his cheek.

"Is that where we're going?"

"Mya."

"Yeah. Great. Just what I need. Alien Eskimos from outer space."

Tenchi also noticed a small, sleek-looking ship sitting on a landing platform adjacent to the igloo. Ryo-o-ki immediately altered course, making a bee-line for the platform.

"Ryo-o-ki, I don't think there's enough room for us to land there."

There was no change in speed or direction as the ship loomed closer.

"Ryo-o-ki!"

"Mya-a-**a-a-a-a-a**!"

Tenchi's eyes went wide as he realized his ride was not going to stop. Closing his eyes, he assumed "The Crash Position". He was thrown across the floor as Ryo-o-ki plowed into the ship, which then exploded as it's fuel was consumed in a massive fireball. The burning fuel quickly burned off, leaving only the charred wreckage of a once speedy ship, and one angry cabbit.

"Mya!"

Huge columns of marble stood around the perimeter of the area. Ryoko rolled her eyes at the pompous display of architecture. As she looked around for any sign of life, Zak began issuing her instructions.

"Bow."

"Kiss my ass."

"I'd be happy to, later. For now, you must bow."

"Screw off!"

"Suit yourself. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Zak got down on all fours and prostrated himself before nobody.

"Lord D3. I have completed my mission."

An immense male voice echoed from the cosmos displayed before them.

"No, Zakaraia. Though the girl stands before us, she remains undecided. She must choose."

Zak rose from the ground and faced Ryoko.

"So. Now you must choose. Stay with me and live your life in comfort, or fight me to the death. I don't want to kill you, Ryoko. But, that's the only other option."

Ryoko bared her fangs and literally growled at him.

"I'd rather die than spend another moment with you."

Ryoko looked up, addressing the invisible person the black expanse of space.

"And as for you, cheese-dick, you're next!"

A chuckle emanated from the black expanse, sending Ryoko into a rage at D3's mockery of her.

"You think I'm joking!?" Her eyes blazed and the air swirled around her. A moment later, everything was engulfed in an energy discharge large enough to crack a small moon.

Ryoko defiantly stood within the superheated air as it quickly cooled towards something resembling it's normal temperature. Looking around, she was surprised to see there was still a floor remaining. She was even more surprised when she looked towards where Zak had been and saw him protected by a set of black Light-Hawk Wings.

Her initial reaction was shock. Zak should not be able to do that. Then she felt angry. Only her Tenchi could do that. Her anger soon changed to consternation at being foiled, then acceptance. Even the most powerful defense mechanism in the universe was useless against her. A nasty smile spread across her face as the air cleared.

"That won't help against me." Ryoko's sword coalesced in her hand as she started to make her way towards Zak. "I eat Light-Hawk Wings for breakfast."

"That's funny. I thought you preferred eggs."

With a fierce battle-cry, Ryoko charged.

**"Ra-a-a-h!"**

Tenchi took a quick look around and then addressed Ryo-o-ki.

"You're our ride home, so don't get hurt, okay?"

"Mya-a-a!"

Turning to the entrance to the igloo/dome, he ran inside the arched entryway. It was not very far before he found a set of large portal doors, inscribed with a great deal of writing he could not understand. There were no doorknobs, latches, windows, hinges, or anything else that indicated whether or not the doors could even be opened. But through them, he could hear the sounds of a battle raging. He pounded on the door with his fist.

"Aw, come on! What's with the sealed doors, again? Don't tell me Doctor Clay's behind all this?"

Ryoko was not happy. All the advantages she enjoyed over Zak meant absolutely nothing if the only way to fight him was at close range where his superior sword techniques would cut her to ribbons. She could blast away from long range all day without effect if he simply deflected the bolts. Sometimes he even deflected her blasts with his sword! She felt like he was taunting her.

What was worse, the small cuts he inflicted on her with his pseudo-Light-Hawk sword were not healing. The small wounds trickled red blood. It was a sight she was not used to seeing. The limits of her own mortality were suddenly becoming very clear.

She fired another energy blast at her opponent. Zak avoided the strike by teleporting straight towards her. His aggressive move caught her by surprise. He body-checked her at full speed, slamming her into the closed doors. Oddly enough, she could hear Tenchi's tiny voice through the door.

"Open the door!"

"Tenchi?"

Zak's eyes went wide.

"Impossible! There's no way! I haven't let Washu out, yet!"

Ryoko laughed at him.

"That's what you get for messing with my Mom! Now that Tenchi's here, he's gonna kick you ass!"

Zak's confidence in his superior position reasserted itself.

"No, I don't think so. Even he can't open that door." He spoke from his position just away from her. "You can stay there and talk to him if you like, but that'll just make my job easier."

Zak fired at her, making sure to follow up with a physical attack this time. His shot just missed, striking the door instead of Ryoko. He landed right where she had been. Before he could turn to fire again, the doors exploded inwards, sending him rolling across the scorched stone floor.

"Wha?" Zak shook his head to clear his senses.

Ryoko flew across the room and disappeared into the cloud of smoke and dust. Once the cloud dissipated sufficiently for Zak to see, he was greeted by a very unwelcome sight. Tenchi emerged from the ruined portal with the Light-Hawk Wings held steadily before him. Unlike the last time, he wore the flowing white robes of a Prince of Jurai.

"Zak, let Ryoko go. It doesn't have to be this way."

"I'm afraid it does, kid. Ryoko is the price for my freedom. But, she doesn't have to die!"

He addressed the girl standing behind Tenchi.

"Ryoko, come with me! You can live, Tenchi can live, we can all live! All you have to do is leave with me! Tenchi will be safe. No one will ever threaten him again. I promise."

"You promise?" Ryoko spat on the ground. "That's what I think of your promises!"

Tenchi informed Zak of his view of the situation.

"Ryoko's going home. Don't try to stop us."

"Zakaraia." The booming voice spoke. "Enough games. Destroy her."

Zak glared at Tenchi.

"Tenchi, I want you to know it's your fault Ryoko has to die."

"My fault?"

"I hope you intend on fighting, 'cause I'm looking forward to this!"

Tenchi spoke to Ryoko while keeping his eyes on Zak.

"I'll take care of this."

"No way!"

Tenchi looked at her in surprise.

"You heard what he said. I'm the one he's trying to kill. If you think that I'm going to stand around while someone's trying to kill me, then forget it. Besides, we fight together, right?"

Tenchi's expression softened when he was reminded of his words to Ryoko last autumn. He returned his stare to it's original target.

"Right."

"This is nuts!" Zak yelled at them. "You can't possible beat me!"

"Maybe." Tenchi answered. "But we'll die trying."

"Right on!" Ryoko agreed.

"Augh!" Black energy arched and spat around Zak as he grew angry. The energy storm became so intense that he was hidden from view for a second. When he became visible again, he was garbed in black robes that iridesced red, giving the illusory appearance of him being clothed in flame. He grasped a bolt of energy in both hands. It immediately obeyed his mental command and straightened into a two-handed sword that was all of two meters long. He then pointed a finger at them.

"I'll prove it! I'll prove to you I'm the best!" Zak fired an array of energy bolts to cover his next attack. He teleported behind the pair, hoping to catch them with the unconventional tactic. He was very surprised to find Ryoko gone and Tenchi already armed and ready to strike.

Instead of swinging directly at Tenchi, Zak merely swung his upraised sword, vertically in front of him, catching Tenchi's counterstrike against his blade. He quickly crouched, and whipped his sword up over his head just in time to catch Ryoko's sword against his. Cursing himself for indulging in such a reckless attack, Zak let loose with a strong kinetic wave, pushing both Tenchi and Ryoko out of reach.

Ryoko blasted at him as she came to a stop. Zak deflected the energy bolts with the flat of his sword, sending them at Tenchi, who had to stop quick to fend off the projectiles.

While Tenchi was busy defending himself from the redirected attack, Zak moved in on Ryoko. They exchanged a flurry of sword strikes. Zak found himself growing more impressed with Ryoko's abilities the more they fought. He could feel her desire to win with every strike. A gust of wind reminded him he had two opponents, not just one. He ducked, narrowly avoiding getting cut-off at the chest by Tenchi's Light-Hawk Sword.

Ryoko's next attack came right on the heels of Tenchi's. As he came up, Ryoko swung across at him. Zak swung his blade down across his front at an angle, hoping to knock her sword from her hands. However, as he expected, Ryoko's strength allowed her to keep hold of the weapon as he pushed it aside. Instead of pinning her sword, Zak swung back the way he had come, spinning around in a circle. Ryoko leaned way back to avoid the swipe. Cyan strands floated to the ground as Zak's sword swung just past her face. It met Tenchi's sword just above his hands. The impact broke Tenchi's grip, sending the Light-Hawk sword spinning through the air. Freed from it's master's control, the weapon quickly evaporated.

Zak quickly spun back around again as he stepped out to Ryoko's right-hand side. He blocked her sword out, away from her body. Ryoko's eyes went wide as she found herself looking right at the deadly edge of Zak's sword.

_"Victory!"_ Zak thought. He leaned forward to drive the weapon through her. Suddenly, a pair of powerful arms locked around his right arm, preventing him from finishing her.

"Do it now!" Tenchi shouted.

Ryoko swung at Zak intending to gut him with the tip of her sword. He teleported just in time to avoid the killing blow. To Ryoko's dismay, she saw Zak reappear directly behind Tenchi. His sword swung high in preparation for a deadly overhead slice. Ryoko teleported between them just in time to intercept the strike. As she held her sword over her head with both hands, she realized she may have made a fatal error.

Zak was using some alternative version of the Light-Hawk sword. If it possessed the same level of power as Tenchi's sword, she could never hope to stop such a powerful attack. But, if she did not, Tenchi would die.

In a last second act of desperation, she redirected all the power of the gems into her sword. The blade glowed white with power just as Zak struck. There was a flash of light, and for a moment, Ryoko thought she had succeeded. Then her glowing blade shattered. Zak's sword continued completely through her on its way to the ground.

"Tenchi..." Ryoko murmured, collapsing into his arms.

Along with his desire for freedom, Zak's powers also faded when he saw what he had done. Although he had won his freedom, he felt as if he had lost something much more important. He listened carefully as Tenchi and Ryoko spoke their final words to each other.

"Ryoko, hold on!"

"I'm sorry," she grimaced as phantom energies began consuming her body, "I didn't understand sooner."

"No. It's my fault. I... I never..."

The energies were rapidly consuming Ryoko's body. Tenchi had only a moment to say what truly needed to be said.

"I never told you I love you."

Ryoko's last act was to smile for Tenchi. She watched through fading vision as a tear fell from his face. Three orange gems bounced across the floor a couple of times, then rolled into a small depression, and then were still.

Ryoko's mind followed Tenchi's teardrop through the infinite darkness. She followed the tear until it burst into three pieces. The trio of droplets shot apart in equidistant directions, and quickly vanished from sight. Once again, she was alone in the dark.

"Some one must have made a mistake." She thought. "This doesn't look like Hell."

For a while, she let the lack of sensory input permeate her being. Then she remembered why she hated being alone.

"Where are all the other dead people?"

"Only people see people." A voice spoke from directly behind her.

Ryoko spun around in surprise. Then she nearly screeched in fright. A horribly deformed and grotesque woman with fangs almost big enough to call tusks, a wild head of wiry, emerald-green hair, huge pointed ears, and burning yellow eyes stood before her. Despite first impressions, she could easily tell the creature was female. The demon, as Ryoko supposed it was, wore no clothes. Although it did possess a rather well-formed body. Her large breasts bounced around as she moved.

"Who, or what, are you?"

"Me?" The creature smiled viscously. "I'm just a monster, come to welcome you to Hell. But, this is your own, personal Hell. You don't get to see the other dead people because you're not a real person. Your..." it snickered at her, "Mommy, created you in a lab. You're not real, so you don't go to the same Hell as the real people."

"I am too, real!"

"You wish! You're a test tube creation; an unwanted one at that. That's why Mommy let Kagato have you. She didn't want you."

"Take it back!" Ryoko yelled at the demon.

"Why should I? It's the truth, and you know it."

Ryoko swung at the horrible creature, hoping to make some improvements to it's ugly mug.

"Stop it!" Another, similar, voice shouted.

Both Ryoko and the demon looked where the shout came from. This time, Ryoko recognized the newcomer. However, she had some difficulty believing what she was seeing. It was herself, sort of. She was dressed in a ridiculous, frilly, white dress with entirely too much lace. The demon groaned.

"Not you, again. I thought I told you to get lost."

"I did." The new Ryoko answered. "I didn't know what to do, so I let you run things for a while. But, now I'm back. You really messed things up, you know."

"Oh, look who's talking!" The demon went to the second Ryoko and began circling around her, hurling insult after insult.

"Look at you! You look like a pretty little white flower; all cute and innocent. What a load of crap! You're ridiculous! You're totally embarrassing! How can you stand to even look at yourself? Ugh! I'm getting nauseous just looking at you! What are you supposed to be, a virgin? That's a laugh. The little whore wants her virginity back. Ha-ha!"

Something the demon said clicked in Ryoko's mind. The embarrassing part seemed familiar. Now that she was thinking about it, so did that dress. The demon was right about one thing; it was ridiculous. She would never even consider wearing it. But the more she looked at it, the more she remembered. She **had** worn it, about a year ago, right after Washu had merged her with Zero.

Ryoko's jaw dropped when she realized it was Zero standing before her. She looked at the demon again and realized it was also a version of herself, just on the opposite side of the spectrum from Zero. The Demon, as Ryoko was beginning to think of the first version of her, was still spitting obscenities that would make any space pirate proud. Zero argued back, trying to justify herself to The Demon. 1Ryoko's initial impression of the argument was surprise. The Demon was really tearing into Zero for no reason other than she was just being emotional. Her raw emotionalism still felt embarrassing, but it was not so grating as before. As for The Demon, she seemed excessively aggressive. Ryoko had learned something about getting people to do what she wanted through nonviolent means. It seemed like The Demon was yelling just because she could.

"Hey." She tried to get their attention.

The arguing women ignored her.

"Hey, you!"

"What?" They both snapped at her.

"Do you really... hate each other?"

Their answers were as opposite as Ryoko expected.

"No." Zero answered.

"Yes!" The Demon confirmed. "She drives me nuts! Look at her! All flowery and prim and proper, just like Aeka. I swear I'm gonna be sick! That's why you'll never have Tenchi."

The Demon sauntered to Ryoko's side.

"You make him sick, too. I'll beat all of you. And when Tenchi's mine, I'll show him all the ways I can bring him pleasure, and maybe a little pain, if he likes it that way."

Ryoko spun around and slapped The Demon across the face.

"That's why Tenchi never wanted to get close! Because of stupid ideas like that!"

The Demon stared at Ryoko for a moment, then started laughing.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha! What? Do you hate me, now? Go ahead. Destroy me, if you can."

They glared at each other while Zero looked on.

"You've gotten soft, Ryoko. I'm just as disgusted of you as I am of her."

Despite the insult, Ryoko found herself smiling. She definitely was not fond of The Demon. But she knew what the truth was, and that was enough.

"They were right. I am a terrible liar."

The Demon looked at her as if she had just grown a second head.

"Since you're me," Ryoko pointed at The Demon, "she's me," she pointed at Zero, "and I like myself, there's no way you can be disgusted with either of us."

Ryoko's alter-egos hit the floor.

"In fact, this whole confronting myself thing is so stupid, I don't think I'm really dead!" She looked out into the darkness. "Who's screwing with my mind?"

"I am."

Ryoko instantly recognized Washu's voice. When she turned to give the diminutive scientist what-for, she was surprised to find Washu wearing her adult form. Her strange outfit added to the disconcerting sight.

"Surprised?" Washu asked.

Ryoko's eyes narrowed.

"Not really."

"It occurred to me a while back, that if you couldn't love yourself, how could you ever love Tenchi?"

"That's none of your business!"

"Actually, it is. You see, your body was destroyed. It's lucky for you your mother is so smart, or you really would be dead."

"Huh?"

"Remember what she said when you lost that fight with Aeka?"

"That was your fault!" Ryoko accused her.

"Only indirectly. But seriously, think about it. I'll give you a clue. It has something to do with memories."

"Rrr..." Ryoko growled mildly. She was not inclined to cooperate, but the mere mentioning of those events set her mind in motion. That particular evening was still fairly fresh in her memory, and Washu's words came easily back to her.

"The gems! I'm... inside them?"

"Bingo!"

"So what are you doing here, and why do you look so weird?"

"That's personal."

"Figures."

"But, I'll tell you something else." She paused for dramatic effect. "You can go back."

"How?" Ryoko immediately demanded.

"Why should I tell you?"

Ryoko smiled. She had been waiting for an occasion like this.

"Because I'm your daughter."

A very wry expression found its way to Washu's face.

"Let me rephrase the question. Why do you deserve to go back?"

"Why not?"

Washu glared at her with irritation.

"I'm not screwing around, here, girl. Washu can't create a new body for you in anything resembling a timely fashion. If you want to be back with Tenchi, you need to justify yourself to me. I'm not giving up what little existence I have left if you're just going to screw things up!"

"What the hell are you talking about?

Washu stared intently at Ryoko for several seconds.

"Ryoko, for you to go back, I have to die."

"Uh, wait a minute."

"I'm willing to do this for you. But only if you aren't going to abuse my power."

"Well, you know me..."

"Yes, I do. That's the problem. You have a temper. You're lazy. You take what you want, even when it belongs to someone else."

"That's not my fault! How was I supposed to know what was right and wrong? Nobody ever bothered to tell me the difference until I met Tenchi!"

At that point, Ryoko found her answer.

"Tenchi loves me. He said it, not me. We love each other. Isn't that reason enough?"

Washu grinned.

"Love is a very good reason."

"I swear I won't mess it up. Just send me back. Look, I'm asking nicely. Please? Please send me back. I'll even call you 'mom' from now on."

Washu laughed when Ryoko promised to call her 'mom'. She held out her hand. The three gems floated above her palm. When Ryoko tried to take them, her hand passed completely through them without any effect.

"Hey. What gives?"

"With the power in these gems, you could remake the entire universe."

"So what? As long as I'm with Tenchi, I don't care about the rest of the universe."

Washu looked skeptically at Ryoko.

"Well, that's not exactly what I had in mind. But, it'll do. All you have to do is take the gems. Then imagine yourself a new body."

"Can I make some changes?"

"If you like."

Ryoko reached for the gems again. This time, when she touched them, she felt incredible power flow through her.

"By the way," Washu added, "I'll hold you to your promise."

"What promise?" Ryoko asked as she made her wish.

"To call Washu 'mom'."

Slowly, Tenchi knelt to retrieve Ryoko's gems. He was not sure why, but he did not feel right leaving them behind. They still glowed faintly from within. As he stood, her felt anger racing through his heart. He was relieved that it was not in his nature to lash out at someone.

"Lord D3!" Zak called to the heavens. "I've done what was required of me. Fulfill your end of the deal. Release me from my debt!"

"Indeed you have. Your debt is relieved. Enjoy you freedom."

"Yeah, right. I'm outta here."

"Zak." Tenchi called to him.

"What is it?"

"I don't ever want to see you again."

Zak hesitated before answering.

"I understand."

Tenchi stared at the gems for a while before clenching his hand over them. A moment later, his palm began to itch and burn. He tightened his grip, unwilling the release the last vestiges of Ryoko's presence. The strain made small beads of sweat pop out on his brow, and a grunt forced its way from his lungs.

The small sound alerted Zak to the possibility of something being amiss. At first he thought Tenchi's look of pain was due to Ryoko's death. But when Tenchi grasped his clenched right fist with his left hand, he realized it was something else.

For a short while Tenchi did his best to keep his hand closed. But the glove on his right hand suddenly burst into flames. He immediately released the gems and tried to smother the flames against his chest. The fire was quickly extinguished, and, despite the pain of his burns, he watched as the gems whirled about in mid-air, glowing like miniature suns. They circled the small sphere of space at such incredible speed that the volume of air they encircled began to become opaque. When the opaque space stretched into the shape of a giant egg, Tenchi got a very weird idea.

"Ryoko...?"

"Zakaraia!" The voice demanded. "The girl lives! Destroy her, immediately!"

"Screw off!" Zak brazenly replied. "I'm done hurting people."

"So be it."

Black lightning streaked down from above. Tenchi shouted in defiance.

**"NO!"**

His power came forth again, and the angry black lightning was absorbed by the Light-Hawk Wings. Zak joined the defensive effort by adding his own wings next to Tenchi's. The two sets of wings overlapped, forming a hexagonal shield that nothing could penetrate.

"Betrayer!" The voice echoed from the stars.

"Like Hell!" Zak called back. "I'm a free man! I can do whatever I want, and I've decided to help Ryoko and Tenchi. If you want to try to kill her again, it'll be over my dead body!"

"Likewise!" Tenchi agreed.

"You can't stand there forever!" D3 reminded them.

"We don't have to!" They answered, of a like mind.

There was a loud crunching sound from behind them when the huge egg hit the floor. They both looked over their shoulder to confirm what they had heard. Then their eyes met.

"Go." Zak told him. "Get Ryoko and take her home. I'll cover your back."

For a moment, Tenchi internally debated whether or not he should trust Zak.

"Shit."

He quickly turned and ran to the cracked egg. Black lightning crashed around him until Zak adjusted his wings, providing the promised cover. After briefly inspecting the already cracked shell, Tenchi stuck his fingers into the cracks and began ripping away the hard exterior, ignoring the pain of the sharp edges digging into his burned hand. As light began to illuminate the dark confines, he found a very wet and very naked Ryoko. Once her presence was confirmed, Tenchi tore at the eggshell until the weight of the person within caused it to collapse.

"Take her and go!" Zak instructed Tenchi.

"But she's not even awake yet!"

"Just go! I can't hold him off forever!"

"Damn it!"

Sensing that he was running short on time, Tenchi crouched over Ryoko's passive form. He slipped one arm under her thighs and the other behind her back. Using the strength in his legs, he hefted her up onto his shoulder in one clean motion. She groaned as she wetly flopped over his shoulder.

Tenchi hurried to the exit with his burden, trusting Zak to cover his retreat. As he found his way under the blasted arch, he tossed another look over his unobstructed shoulder. Zak continued to cover the exit, giving him a chance to escape with Ryoko.

Zak look his way, and their gazes met. For a moment, they both felt that there was a great deal more going on than either of them knew about.

"Go!" Zak yelled for Tenchi to leave.

Another groan from the young woman suspended from his shoulder reminded Tenchi he had Ryoko's safety to think of. He turned and left Zak behind.

Zak gazed up at the darkness above him. The lightning strikes ceased as Tenchi made his getaway.

"What now, D3?"

There was a long pause. Zak had a feeling the extra-dimensional being was communing with his true patron; the one who had given him these miraculous powers.

"You must not be allowed to interfere any further." The voice told him.

Zak stared into the cosmos, feeling relief, and a little bit of regret. A moment later, an immense bolt of black energy streaked down from the heavens. He made no attempt to defend himself.

As Tenchi emerged from the arched passageway, he immediately began searching the sky for Ryo-o-ki. She had done such a good job at avoiding her attackers that now he could not find her, either. Ryoko shifted slightly as she began to regain consciousness.

"Ten...chi..."

Her semi-conscious ramblings gave Tenchi an idea. He knelt and carefully set her on the ground. The sight of her bare body reminded Tenchi he needed to cover her with something before she awoke, or she might get the wrong idea. Since he had no blanket or towel, he looked at himself, judging if any of his own clothes would suffice. When he saw that he had reverted to his Jurai battle armor, he realized he had absolutely no idea how to remove any of these garments in the normal sense. He grasped the small ring on his right hand and twisted it. The armor faded away and was replaced by his casual clothes. He breathed a sigh of relief as the familiar weight of his pants and light cotton coat covered him once more. Pulling off the coat, he draped it over Ryoko's bare chest just as her eyes cracked open.

"Welcome back."

"Tenchi?" Her eyes open fully.

"Yeah. It's me." Tenchi smiled at her.

Ryoko smiled back. Tenchi thought it was the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. Reluctantly, he directed her attention to more important matters.

"Ryoko, I wish we had more time, but we don't. I need your help."

"My help?" She questioned him.

"I need you to call Ryo-o-ki. She's our ride home."

"Is that all?" She smirked. "I seem to have lost my clothes, Tenchi. How did that happen, hmm?"

_"I knew it."_ Tenchi scratched his head.

"Uh, I promise I'll tell you later. But first, call Ryo-o-ki. I don't know how much time we have left."

Tenchi cast a nervous glance at the igloo-looking chamber. Ryoko followed his gaze. The sight of the strange meeting place reminded her of how and why she was where she was. For a moment, Ryoko wondered if Zak had told the her the truth when he had said he had never lied to her.

"Ryoko, come on! Zak's holding that whatever it is back so we can escape! We can talk about it later if you want, but let's just go!"

"Anything?" Ryoko stared intently into his eyes, a hopeful smile on her face.

_"Uh-oh."_ Tenchi realized his mistake.

"I didn't mean it like that!"

Ryo-o-ki appeared just as Tenchi was trying to think of a way to extricate himself from the situation he had gotten into.

"Mya-a-a-n!" They were enveloped in a golden light.

"Remember." Ryoko teased. "You said anything."

END CHAPTER 7.

AFTERWORD: Aww... Ain't that cute? Believe it or not, the story isn't over. Volume 2, Part 8: Epilogue, coming up, next. I briefly considered ending the entire volume here, but that just won't do. It's shorter than most of the other chapters, so you won't have so much reading to do.


	15. Memories

****

INVASION Volume 2, Part 8: Memories.

DISCLAIMER: Tenchi Muyo! is copyright AIC/Pioneer, LDC. I claim no rights to the characters or story. I'm only doing this because I love the whole series and enjoy writing stories about the characters. I only ask that no changes be made to this story, as it took me a great deal of time to write it.

FOREWORD: Just wrapping up a few loose ends and setting the stage for future installments.

AUTHOR: Dreamr

LAST REVISION: 18 August 2002

E-MAIL: TrueDreamr@Hotmail.com

BEGIN EPILOGUE.

With Ryoko on board, Ryo-o-ki made record time back to Earth. She stood silently within the confines of the livable space within the creature-turned-spaceship, guiding their progress. Tenchi marveled at the stars as they streaked by. Even Ryo-o-ki seemed confused by the incredible speed.

"We're going pretty fast, aren't we?"

"Yup. We'll be back in a couple of minutes."

Ryoko took a quick look over her shoulder. Tenchi seemed very nervous about something. She had used Tenchi's shirt to towel herself off before replacing it with her yellow and blue striped dress, so it could not be because she was unkempt or naked. After a few minutes to get her thoughts, she began to discern what might be bothering him.

_"Hold the fort, will ya?"_ She asked of Ryo-o-ki. Turning from the front, she carefully asked what was bothering Tenchi.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?"

"I'm sorry about what I said."

To Ryoko, Tenchi's apology seemed misplaced.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I said something to you earlier that..." Tenchi found he was having a hard time saying what he wanted. He took a deep breath, wet his lips, then continued. "...that I wish... I had said earlier. Then maybe none of this would have happened."

"Tenchi..." Ryoko moved closer, her eyes gleaming with love.

"Wait." He held a hand up between them, halting her progress. "I meant what I said. But, I said it because I thought that was it. We were fighting, then, it was over. I lost. I wasn't good enough to protect you, even with the Light-Hawk Wings." He took another deep breath. "Ryoko, the problem was never you. It's me. All of you are so amazing. Aeka, Washu, Mihoshi, Sasami, Grandpa, Ryo-o-ki, even Dad; they're all amazing people. Then there's you. You have powers most people would sell their souls for! You have talents and skills I'll never have." Tenchi's face colored a bit. "You're really beautiful. I'm just a regular teenager. I can't possibly live up to any of your expectations. I don't deserve you."

Ryoko smiled at Tenchi's confession, and her own lack of understanding.

"That's what I get for thinking that I was starting to figure you out."

She closed the distance between them. Looking into Tenchi's eyes, she put her arms over his shoulders. This time, he did not oppose her.

"I don't care about powers, the Light-Hawk Wings, or royal families. But you, I care about. Whether you deserve me or not, you've got me, and I'm not ever leaving you again, no matter what."

Tenchi's arms slowly found their way around her waist.

"You promise?"

"I promise."

To her pleasant surprise, Tenchi did not object when she tried to kiss him. Her eyes closed as she enjoyed the feel of Tenchi's lips against hers.

The next morning, Ryoko awoke feeling peaceful and well rested. She had taken a long and luxurious bath after returning home to relax and cleanse herself. As she opened her eyes, the familiar sight of hanging spices and vegetables greeted her. She smiled.

_"I'm home."_

From within the kitchen below her room, she could hear someone puttering about. Probably Sasami making breakfast. She took a deep breath, stretching her still stiff muscles. The smell of cooking food proved her assumption to be true. Her mouth began to water at the savory odors.

The thought of eating reminded her of one of the changes she had wished for when creating herself a new body. She was suddenly very eager to try out her new sense of taste. Quickly conjuring one of her favorite outfits, she made herself decent, and then teleported to the kitchen.

"Hey, Sasami! What's cooking?" She cheerily greeted the short cook.

"Good morning, Ryoko!" Sasami answered over her shoulder. "Breakfast is almost ready. Why don't you go say hi to Tenchi?"

Ryoko's eyes lit up at the mention of Tenchi.

"Tennnnchiiiii!"

She phased through the dividing wall on the fly, aiming directly for Tenchi's spot at the table. For once, he did not have enough warning to avoid her flying tackle. She caught him in her clutches and held him close as they hit the floor.

"Jeez, Ryoko! What's up with you today?"

"Miss Ryoko, release Lord Tenchi, this instant!" Aeka complained.

"What's she so excited about?" Washu squinted at the excited girl with curiosity.

"Good Morning, Ryoko!" Mihoshi greeted her.

"Myaow!" Ryo-o-ki, in the form of a little girl, pointed her chopsticks at Ryoko.

"She does seem rather excitable this morning." Katsuhito also commented on her enthusiasm.

Ryoko puckered her lips and tried to kiss Tenchi.

"Ryoko! Cut it out!" Tenchi objected as he tried to wriggle his way out of her overly amorous grasp.

**WHAP!**

Aeka hit Ryoko on the head with a folding fan. The love-struck girl rubbed her head as she glared at Aeka.

"What the Hell did you do that for?"

"Because you refuse to listen to reason!"

"What reason? All I wanted was a little 'Good Morning' kiss!"

"Unless you've gone blind as well as dumb, it's quite plain Lord Tenchi does not wish to engage in such an activity with you."

Ryoko began getting indignant at being treated so poorly. She had expected a little leeway after everything they had been though.

"You're just jealous that Tenchi finally picked me over you!"

"What?!" Everyone exclaimed at once.

"Oh, really?" Aeka asked. "And just when did this happen, hmm?"

"What, have you developed a case of self-induced amnesia? He chose last night when he brought me back."

"Ryoko, what are you talking about?" Tenchi asked of Ryoko as he carefully extricated himself from her grasp.

"What do you mean what am I talking about? You were there. Zak tried to kill everybody." Everyone's eyes got wide in surprise as Ryoko told her story. "I had to go with him to protect you. You followed us, and there was a fight. He killed me, instead, and then I came back to life. You rescued me."

Ryoko looked around at the skeptical looks everyone was giving her.

"You said you loved me."

"Pure rubbish." Aeka said.

"It is not!" Ryoko yelled at Aeka before returning her gaze to Tenchi. "Tenchi, tell her it's true!"

Rather apologetically, Tenchi shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Ryoko. I don't remember anything like that. We were all here last night. So was Zak. He got a good job offer in America, so we had a farewell party last night. He should be on the plane, right now."

As Tenchi watched Ryoko's reaction to what he was saying, he could see tears beginning to brim in her eyes.

"That's... not what happened."

Just then, Sasami entered the main room with the first of the breakfast dishes.

"Oh, goody!" Mihoshi gleefully exclaimed. "Come on, Ryoko. Let's have breakfast. You can tell us the rest of your story later."

Ryoko shouted across the table at her.

"It's not a story, you dim-wit! I'm telling the truth!"

"Miss Ryoko, that is quite enough out of you! You've already ruined a wonderful family breakfast with this ridiculous tale. Must you ruin the entire day with your lies?"

The lack of faith being shown Ryoko after everything she had gone through was too much to accept. A burst of anger fueled her next action.

"**I'm not lying!**"

The rest of the family looked at her with mixed feelings. They knew she regularly made up excuses and stories for her behavior. But she did not usually get this way if she were not being honest. Tenchi gazed upon her with a look of concern and compassion.

"I have an idea. Washu, is there some kind of check-up or scan you can do to see if something's wrong with our memories?"

Washu contemplated his request for a few seconds.

"Sure there is. But, why waste the time?"

"I'll do it." Ryoko instantly agreed. "A brain scan. Fine. That ought to do it. I'll prove I'm telling the truth."

Eager to get to the bottom of yet another mystery, Aeka decided to expedite the suggested exam.

"That's an excellent idea, Lord Tenchi!" Aeka praised him. "Everyone, to the lab!" She took the liberty of leading the youthful family members to Washu's laboratory.

As Washu expected, there were no anomalies in the memory scans of the Masaki family. Everything was normal, except for the fact that one of them had a completely different and contradictory set of memories than the others. It was very disturbing. Washu turned to look at Ryoko as she sat on the examination table.

_"Ryoko, dear."_ Washu addressed her daughter through the mental link. _"Please respond to this question mentally. How many fingers am I holding up?" _She put her hand up with two fingers extended.

_"Two."_ Was the reply.

"Ah, good! I have to admit, I was a little worried there, for a minute. Anyway, here's the news. The person on that table really is Ryoko. However, I was almost fooled into thinking she wasn't."

"How's that?" Aeka asked.

"Well, there's been some significant changes in Ryoko's physiology since her last exam." She directed her next statement specifically at Ryoko. She also made sure to smile to soften the blow. "I'm going to need you for a complete exam, sweetie."

Ryoko's face fell in dread.

"As for her claim, I can't find any evidence that her memories have been tampered with."

"What?" Everyone asked.

"On the other hand, I can't find any evidence that anyone else's memory has been tampered with. Simply put, she has a different set of memories from everyone else."

"But, is she telling the truth?" Aeka grilled the scientist.

"She thinks so."

"So," Tenchi began to point out, "what you're saying is, you don't know."

Washu fell to the ground.

"Well, I wouldn't put it that way! Although, it does remind me of that time..."

"Forget it."

Everyone looked at Ryoko in surprise. For her to simply dismiss what she had been so adamant about earlier seemed rather strange.

"It's isn't important, anyway. Everything'll be just like it's always been, so there's no point in arguing about it."

For a long moment, everyone was quiet as they contemplated the implications of this new development.

"What?" Ryoko asked the group as if she were annoyed.

"Little Washu," Aeka asked, "at what point do Miss Ryoko's memories differ from ours?"

"It looks like the break in continuity occurs the night of Ryoko's party, after everyone went to bed."

"So," Ryoko extrapolated from Washu's answer, "anything that happened after that, no one else remembers?"

"Basically. It's really weird how some of the differences seem so selective. It's like someone really were trying to manipulate our memories. I just can't find any concrete evidence of it. I'd like to run some more tests on this, but there's only so much I can do with twelve dimensional sensors."

"Ugh." The family members tried not to think about such details.

"Okay!" Washu suddenly took charge of the awkward situation. "Since little Ryoko has to get naked for this exam, I suggest you all leave, unless you like being embarrassed by the sight of her perfect body."

Aeka was quick to accept the suggestion.

"Oh, please. Come along, Sasami."

"Everyone out." Washu prompted, escorting the group to the lift which would deliver them to the door. Once they were out of sight, she turned back to her charge and contemplated which tests to perform first. She was surprised when Ryoko spoke up before her.

"Zak told me he was the person who broke into your lab."

Washu casually strolled to one of her fixed control panels and started tapping away the keyboard while she listened to what was being said.

"Is that so?"

"He said, you have pictures of me."

"Sure. I've got lots of pictures. It's part of being a scientist."

"So, you only keep those pictures for research and stuff, then?"

"Hmm..." Washu grinned as she began to understand what Ryoko was after. "No. I've got some old family photos lying around here, someplace. I used to have a husband and a son, remember. Why do you ask?"

Ryoko casually waved her hand as if it were of no consequence.

"No reason. Just wondering. Most everything that came out of Zak's mouth was crap. I just wanted to prove it, that's all."

"Okay, then. Well, take off all your clothes, then go stand on that blue spot over there with your feet shoulder width apart, and your arms straight out to your sides. We'll check body symmetry and shape, first."

Ryoko moved to comply with the details of the exam. But, as Washu busied herself on her console, there was only one thing on her mind.

_"How can I convince Tenchi I'm telling the truth?"_

Tenchi opened his bedroom door to go take a bath. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Ryoko standing in the hall in his mother's kimono, carrying a magazine.

"Oh, hey, Ryoko. I was... um, how did you get that?"

"I lied." She said.

Tenchi sighed as he narrowed one eye with suspicion.

"What do you mean?"

"It is important. Here's the proof. I... um," she hesitated as she tried to talk her way around the issue of what had occurred in the onsen, "I lost my temper and blew up the bath. I left for a while and when I came back, I told you about what had happened. You forgave me and, on the condition that I stay, you promised to decide between me and Aeka. As proof, you gave me these to keep, no matter what you decided. If you still think I'm lying, then I'll give them back, but..." The hesitation was longer this time as Ryoko gathered her courage and self-determination. She took a deep breath. "I... won't... stay... here... with you... anymore. I swear I'll run away again and never come back."

"Ryoko..." Tenchi was very surprised that she would confront him in such an open manner. For a short moment, Ryoko managed to meet his gaze, then she looked down, avoiding his intense scrutiny. He could plainly see the unshed tears gathering in her sparkling eyes.

The way she held the magazine flat against her chest, Tenchi could tell it was something his father might enjoy. Although, it's apparent age did remind him of a certain stash from years ago.

"Could I... see that magazine for a second?"

Ryoko hesitantly handed it over. As Tenchi thought, it was one of the ones he had stolen from his father years ago. Despite the gravity of the situation, Tenchi felt a small grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. He held it out to her.

"You know what, you keep it. Dad won't miss the magazine. And I'm pretty sure Mom wouldn't mind about the kimono. Besides, it looks good on you."

"Really?"

Tenchi was amazed at how quickly Ryoko's expression went from deadly serious to joyfully impressed.

"Really."

Ryoko suddenly threw her arms around Tenchi's neck and hugged him fiercely.

"Uh, well, gee... you know..."

"Yes?" Ryoko's arms tightened just a bit.

"Nothing." Tenchi answered. Unsure of exactly what to do, he did the only thing that made sense. He put his arms around the unusual young woman who seemed so taken with him.

"Oh! That reminds me. I found something that I'm pretty sure belongs to you."

Ryoko released Tenchi so he could show her what he had found.

"You did? What is it?" She asked as she followed Tenchi into his room.

"Well, it looks like a photo album. But, I thought you didn't have anything like this."

"I don't."

Tenchi picked up a large binder from his desk and presented it to her.

"Here."

Ryoko accepted it and opened the cover. Only a glance within told her what she needed to know. Her eyes went wide and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment before she closed the cover with a slap.

"Something wrong?" Tenchi asked.

"Uh, no. Nothing's wrong. Did you... look?"

Tenchi reached up and scratched the back of his head.

"Well, I kind of had to, to figure out who it belonged to."

Ryoko's blush grew deeper. Neither of them spoke for several seconds.

"It is yours, isn't it?" Tenchi asked. "Or is Washu playing a practical joke on us?"

"That's it!" Ryoko thinly laughed. "That Washu. She's such a pain."

Tenchi smiled.

"Yeah. Why don't you go bring it back to her?"

"Right!" Ryoko said with a look of satisfaction. "I'll give her a solid reminder not to mess with us."

Tenchi chuckled as the stress level finally bottomed out.

"You do that. By the way, could you remind Washu to stay out of my room?"

"Sure! No problem. I'll go do it right now."

Tenchi watched as Ryoko phased down through the floor. He thought for a moment about Ryoko's story from this morning. Was she really telling the truth, even though no one else remembered it that way? He quickly banished the doubtful thoughts.

_"No. I promised to trust her. I believe you, Ryoko. I just wish I knew what was going on."_

The meeting place was quite a mess. Once grand columns were strewn about like a child's building logs. The mirror finished floor no longer reflected the glory of the infinite cosmos. D3 briefly surveyed the damage before dismissing it as of little consequence. The meeting place was meant to intimidate and awe. Repairs could be effected easily enough. For now, more important matters required his attention.

"My Lady, the experiment has failed."

"No experiment is a failure as long as something is learned. What have we learned?"

"The subject was too strong willed. A preprogrammed pattern from the original made control difficult. I believe using blank programs would allow better control over the clone. Sufficient self-awareness would still remain to allow for independant actions when required."

Although Lady Tokimi seemed oblivious to his pronouncement, D3 knew she was deep in thought. She rarely interacted directly with anyone, other than to issue instructions. Her lack of interest indicated she found his report to be acceptable, thus far.

"The girl has been speaking of what she knows."

"She knows nothing of her true nature. I have made sufficient changes to insure none of the others will believe her."

D3 began to feel nervous when Tokimi actually smiled at him.

"I can see I was right to place my trust in you, D3."

Deferentially, D3 bowed his head, then carefully turned the topic of conversation back to it's former subject.

"Prototyping is complete. We can begin mass production as soon as sufficient quantities of Masu have been obtained."

"You may begin. Feel free to use the originals, as they are no longer required."

"Understood." Eager to be away from the disconcerting smile, D3 immediately moved to implement his instructions.

Alone once more, Tokimi contemplated the possible future outcomes. Several new scenarios would now have to be worked against to obtain the desired outcome. All of the scenarios could have been prevented, had her sister acted within the normally acceptable bounds of logic, rather than striking out on her own.

"Goddesses should not have children."

END EPILOGUE.

AFTERWORD: That's it! The end of volume 2. It was a lot longer than I expected it to be.

**This is actually a revision of the previous edition. I originally left out the final bit with D3 and Tokimi because I didn't want to look like I was just ripping off the writers. But, after reading all the reviews, I decided to put it back in.**

I feel the need to remind everyone that I wrote this volume as an exploration of Ryoko's feelings. Everyone knows she's aggressive, and that she loves Tenchi. I tried to present some valid possibilities for her other, less well-known, behavior patterns. I also tried to demonstrate that Ryoko is, above all, a person with her own set of needs, wants, and desires. If she is neglected or abused too much, even she will react to prevent future pain. Above all, her strongest feelings have only recently developed (her own words, folks). Her emotional control isn't all that it could be. So, she is often at the mercy of her intense feelings. Sort of like a teenager. Hormones, etc.

The same goes for Tenchi. The events in this volume occur almost two years after he frees Ryoko. I felt it was appropriate to say he was finally graduating from high school. Fans of the manga will notice this differs from what has been published. (It specifically states that Tenchi dropped out of school in the new Tenchi Muyou series, published by Kadokawa Comics Dragon Jr., which has yet to be released in the US.)

Above all, over the course of time, people change. To expect the characters of Tenchi Muyou not to change is unreasonable. There is bound to be ups and downs. The only question is, how do they deal with it?

Anyway, the next installment will be pure R+T. Volume 3 starts after that.


	16. Ryoko's Island

****

INVASION, Interlude 3: Ryoko's Island.

DISCLAIMER: Tenchi Muyou! is copyright AIC/Pioneer, LDC. I do not own or claim any rights to the series or characters. However, this story is entirely a product of my imagination. So, please do not change it! Other than that, feel free to distribute as widely as desired.

FOREWORD: Just want to let you, the reader, know that this piece is totally T+R. It takes place between Volumes 2 and 3 of INVASION, and serves as a conjunction between the two.

AUTHOR: Dreamr

EMAIL: TrueDreamr@Hotmail.com

LAST REVISION: 16 August 2002

BEGIN INTERLUDE 3.

"I can't reach!" Sasami stretched as far over the large baskets of vegetables as she could, but the turnips were much farther away than her short arms could reach. All of Tenchi's hard work in the fields this spring was paying off now. The shed was stuffed full with so many vegetables that she did not think they would ever run out. The problem now was the only way to get to some of them was to climb over the tops of the baskets. That was a sure way to slip and fall. Taking the more prudent course of action, Sasami went back into the house to get some help.

Her first stop was the main room. Since there was an air conditioner mounted in that room, it was the coolest room in the house during the summer, other than the basement. Most of the family gathered there when the weather got too hot. At the moment, Mihoshi, Aeka, and Ryo-o-ki were watching a soap opera. On the television, the male lead character failed to kiss the lead female again, eliciting a groan from the girls who were watching. Sasami looked up into the rafters for Ryoko. No help there either.

_"I'll have to get Tenchi!"_ Sasami cheerfully realized.

Since Tenchi's graduation from high school, he had been unusually cheerful. Any excuse to get him to help was even more welcome than usual. Graduating from school was certainly a cause to be happy. But Sasami was thinking there was another reason.

The other day, she had caught Tenchi watching Aeka. She teased him about it, asking what he was looking at. He immediately denied any guilt, explicit or implied, then went running off, saying he had to go weed the fields. She, of course, cheerfully waved goodbye, knowing full-well that he had been ogling her older sister.

It was no wonder. Tenchi was getting more mature and at ease with so many girls in the house. It also probably helped that Aeka seemed to have relaxed her self-imposed dress code a little this summer. Her clothes showed more of her figure than in previous years.

As for Ryoko, since her claim that Zakaraia had tried to kill everybody, she had become somewhat sullen. She had even allowed Washu to perform a withering array of tests on her to confirm the story. Over the course of the next couple of days, she had gotten over it. However, regardless of whether or not the story was true, she definitely did not seem to be as interested in Tenchi as before.

When Sasami reached the top of the stairs, she found Ryoko indecisively standing in front of Tenchi's closed bedroom door. Sasami called to her loud enough to be heard inside.

"Hi, Ryoko! Aren't you going to knock?" Ryoko turned to Sasami in surprise. Some stumbling sounds emanated from Tenchi's room. Ryoko leapt backwards, disappearing through the hallway wall before Tenchi could slide the door open. He looked about, finding only Sasami.

"Was Ryoko just here?"

"She was, but she left right after I said 'hi'."

Tenchi looked somewhat disappointed.

"Tenchi, did you tell Ryoko something to make her mad?"

Tenchi sighed. "No."

"You're going to, aren't you?"

"Yeah." Tenchi leaned back against the door frame.

"Tenchi, can't you... do like what Daddy did and marry both Aeka and Ryoko?"

Tenchi looked at Sasami in surprise.

"Marry both...?" It took him a couple seconds to realize what Sasami was thinking. "Oh! No, it's not like that."

Sasami went with her second choice.

"Then... you must be leaving."

"Sasami, I don't want to be a farmer for the rest of my life, constantly trying to fend off the girls." A sniffle next to him alerted Tenchi to his verbal faux pas.

"Don't you like us anymore?" Sasami was nearly in tears.

Tenchi's first instinct was to kneel down to address the girl at eye-level. He was surprised to find that Sasami's eye-level was now only a head lower than his own. He did some quick math in his head and realized Sasami was, physically, eleven years old, now.

"Of course I like you, Sasami!"

Sasami's mood immediately went back to bright and cheery.

"Good! 'Cause I need your help with something."

"Ah-hah. Of course."

Sasami lead Tenchi to the shed where they kept the vegetables and then described how she would like them arranged.

"Sure. No problem." Tenchi went straight for the turnips. He had not realized just how far back they really were. Some of the baskets were pretty heavy. As he twisted around with a large basket of carrots, he felt a slight twinge in his back. He immediately dropped the basket, heedless of the contents that spilled out.

Sasami had already gone back inside to finish dinner, so he simply stood still for a moment, trying to decide if he had hurt himself. There was no further pain as he experimentally twisted and flexed, so Tenchi continued with the task at hand. From then on, however, he dragged the baskets instead of lifting them.

That night, Tenchi awoke to throbbing pain in the middle of his back. When he tried to sit up, the sensation instantly multiplied, sending waves of pain through his spine. Tenchi grunted, trying to keep from crying out.

_"Oh, Hell. Why does it have to hurt now?"_ There was no doubt in Tenchi's mind how he had hurt himself. The question now was how he would deal with it.

_"No choice. I'm going to have to go get Washu."_ Tenchi steeled himself, then sat up. The waves of pain ground through his back again. Beads of sweat began popping out on his forehead. The worst part over, Tenchi began slowly making his way out of his room and down the stairs. Each step hurt badly. But as long as he went slowly, it was bearable. When Tenchi reached the second floor balcony, he received a very unwelcome surprise. Ryoko appeared before him.

"Looking for a midnight rendezvous?" Ryoko grinned slyly.

"Ryoko, please don't..." Tenchi begged. Before he could finish explaining, Ryoko grabbed him in a big hug.

"AAAAAAAAAHH!" Tenchi yelled as Ryoko's well meant embrace made his back explode with pain. Ryoko immediately let go.

"I didn't do it!"

Tenchi clutched at Ryoko's sleeves to keep himself from moving. His vision started to swim.

"Hey, crazy girl!" Washu emerged from her lab to get a late-night snack. "What are you doing, trying to draw and quarter him?"

"No! Something's wrong!"

Washu quickly ascended the stairs to examine Tenchi.

"Where does it hurt?" She asked Tenchi.

"My back." He was breathing heavily in an attempt to get more oxygen. Hopefully that would stave of the dizziness. "I... think I pulled it or something earlier."

"Oooh. Bet that hurts. I'll tell you what. Since you probably don't feel like walking to the lab, I'll teleport you there."

"Thanks."

Washu called up her remote computer terminal and began tapping away.

"By the way, Ryoko. I can hear Aeka shuffling around in her room. If she tries to grab hold of Tenchi, don't let her. It'll just hurt more."

"Sorry." Ryoko whispered to Tenchi.

"It's not your fault." He told her. "You didn't know. Just don't start dancing around or anything."

Ryoko smiled, despite the situation.

"Who says you don't have a sense of humor?"

"What is going on?" Aeka finally emerged from her room. "Is Tenchi all right?" When she saw Ryoko standing close to Tenchi, she immediately assumed her rival was responsible for hurting Tenchi.

"Ryoko! How could you hurt Lord Tenchi? Get away from him this instant!"

"Stay away." Ryoko warned her. Aeka ignored the warning. She moved quickly forward to protect Tenchi.

Tenchi tried to take a deep breath so he could override the girls' misunderstanding, but the pain returned as his back flexed. He quickly exhaled.

"Dammit, Aeka, stay back!" Ryoko warned once more. Again, Aeka ignored her.

"Release Lord Tenchi or I swear I'll make you regret it!"

When Aeka got within an arms length of them, Ryoko let loose with a major kinetic blast. Aeka flew back through the air and landed right on top of Washu, just as she was initiating the teleportation sequence. They went down in a heap. Washu's computer terminal bleeped twice then disappeared.

"Move it, girl!" Washu thrust the dazed princess aside. She recalled her terminal just as Tenchi and Ryoko disappeared. Looking at the data monitor, Washu could see the last set of tri-dimensional coordinates were way off.

"Oh, boy..."

Ryoko was very surprised when the Masaki house was suddenly replaced by palm trees and black sand.

"What the...?"

"Ryoko, is this part of Washu's lab?"

"No part that I remember."

Ryoko craned her head around, taking in the new locale. Palm trees with coconuts, low brush, and old drift wood were in abundance. The black sand was a little different from what she imagined a tropical island would be like. But it matched the volcano which was quietly sending small streamers of smoke into the air above. A short distance out from shore, the water changed color from aquamarine to deep blue, indicating where the shallows ended and deep sea began.

"Tenchi, I hope you like seafood."

"Let's find some shade." Tenchi suggested.

The bright sunlight beat down on them from the crystal-clear blue sky as they slowly walked towards the trees. Tenchi stopped to take a break halfway there.

"This sucks." He complained. "I hope Washu finds us quickly."

"I don't know, Tenchi. We're alone together on a deserted island. What more could a couple ask for?"

"No way. We may be alone together but we are definitely not a couple. Besides, my back won't take it."

"I know." Ryoko said quietly.

"Let's go." Tenchi prompted her. Ryoko escorted Tenchi the rest of the way into the shade of the trees. When they reached an area that appeared to be sufficiently shaded, she helped Tenchi to lie down so he could rest.

"Thanks."

Ryoko did not bother to answer. She felt totally useless. Aeka had always insisted that her powers were good for nothing but destruction. Right now Ryoko agreed. She sat on the dark sand while Tenchi tried to sleep.

A few hours later, Tenchi gave up on sleep. He had rested, but not slept. His back bothered him too much. Gingerly, he levered himself into a sitting position. It did not hurt quite so much as before. Hopefully, the worst was over.

Tenchi looked over at Ryoko, who still sat quietly looking out to sea. The sun was getting low in the sky, giving it a slightly orange hue. This side of the island would be the western shore, if the planet they were on rotated in the same direction as Earth.

"Washu sure is taking a long time to find us."

"Looks that way."

"Well, I'm sure she'll show up soon."

"Tenchi, what if she doesn't?"

Tenchi looked at Ryoko, contemplating her question.

"What if she never finds us?"

"Don't worry. She'll find us." Tenchi sat still for a while, watching as the sun slowly traversed the sky towards the western horizon. He looked again towards Ryoko. She sat there, quiet and unmoving. It was unusual for her.

"Is something bothering you?" Tenchi asked.

"Aeka was right." Ryoko cryptically answered.

"Right about what?"

"My powers are good for nothing but destruction."

"That's not true."

"Yeah, right. Tell me one thing I can do with my powers that's constructive."

Tenchi thought about it for a minute. He looked around hoping an idea would come to mind. Looking up at the palm trees gave him an idea.

"You could easily fly up and pick some coconuts."

"What?" Ryoko looked at him.

"Coconuts."

"Coconuts?"

"Coconuts. They have water in them. Unless there happens to be a fresh water spring around here some place, coconuts will have to work."

"Shit. I wish I'd thought of that. I'll be right back." Ryoko took off to the nearest tree with coconuts dangling from it. She returned a minute later with a coconut in each hand. She held them at chest level.

"Do you like my coconuts, Tenchi?"

"Ha-ha. Funny. Can I have one?"

"Why should I give you one? You wouldn't give me your balls."

"Poor, Ryoko. Come on. I'm thirsty."

"All right. But I don't see what you'll be able to do with it."

Tenchi realized Ryoko was right. Not only did he have no way of husking the coconut, but his back would severely disagree with the strain.

"Could you open them, please?"

"Why, yes, Tenchi. I'd be happy to."

Tenchi was not quite sure what was up with Ryoko's attitude. She had been pretty moody since that episode with Zakaraia. Her story had been pretty fantastic. Still, Tenchi did remember how Ryoko had gone to live with Zak for a short time. He especially remembered that she had left because of how he had treated her. Maybe she was still hurt over it. While Ryoko sat ripping the coconut husks off with her bare hands, a feat only she could have accomplished, Tenchi tried to address the issue.

"Ryoko, are you still mad at me?"

"No." She said simply.

"I'm sorry for being so selfish."

Ryoko did not answer as she finished the first coconut. Now it looked like a coconut was supposed to look like. She easily drilled a hole in the top with a much smaller version of her energy sword.

"Here." She handed the coconut to Tenchi.

"Thank you, Ryoko. I told you your powers weren't useless."

"I guess. Anything else?"

"Well, not unless you feel like making dinner. Or maybe it's breakfast. It's a little confusing."

Ryoko dropped the unpeeled second coconut on to the ground next to her.

"No problem." She stood up. "Fish, crab, lobster, shrimp, you name it, it's yours." Ryoko looked at Tenchi, determination smoldering in her eyes once again. Tenchi smiled at her.

"That's better. I like you more when you're motivated."

"Then I'll make sure to stay that way." Ryoko assured him, smiling.

True to her word, Ryoko did her best to stay motivated. Over the next day, Tenchi's back quickly healed. The pain was almost gone. He watched from the sidelines as Ryoko went fishing in the shallows. She had no line or hook, so she fished with her powers. When she spotted a fish, she snatched it out of the water or levitated it, then threw it onto the beach. She also pulled some crabs from the bottom. But when she threw those along with the fish, they crawled back into the water without so much as click of dismay. When Ryoko came out of the water she threw a fit over the loss. Tenchi chuckled to himself as each crab snuck away unnoticed. When Ryoko started yelling at the escaped crabs, he laughed out loud. She dove into the water, chasing more game.

Ryoko came up a couple minutes later with a much larger crab in her hands. She hefted it in the air and called to Tenchi.

"How's this for dinner?" The crab promptly began assaulting her with it's leg pincers.

"Ow! Hey, stop that!"

Tenchi laughed harder.

"It's not funny!" She yelled at him. The crab managed to get a hold of one of her hands with it's main claws.

"Yoooow-ow-ow! Come on, let go, dammit!" Ryoko shook her hand with as much force as she could muster. The crab's claw broke off at the shoulder, sending the large crustacean flying out to sea. Ryoko looked at the remaining claw in dismay. She pried it from her hand, then scowled some more. Tenchi was laughing so hard it made both his sides and his back hurt.

"To Hell with it." Ryoko tossed the claw back, then came out of the water. As Tenchi watched her return, he couldn't help but notice how she looked. Ryoko wore a two-piece strapless swimsuit, which was typical for her. The coloring, however, was not. Ryoko usually preferred complex patterns and designs. This one was entirely dark blue, which actually looked pretty good on her. It matched the natural surroundings. As was also normal for Ryoko, the suit covered very little of her body.

Tenchi turned his gaze away from the scantily clad female. He had only his boxers to wear, which was okay for modesty's sake. But if he looked too long, he might embarrass himself. Besides, it was rude to stare.

Ryoko retrieved her remaining catch of fish and brought it back to the shaded clearing they had adopted as their own. As she approached, Tenchi congratulated her on her catch.

"Thanks, Ryoko. I was really getting hungry."

"Heh. No problem. I figured there'd be something out there."

"I didn't know that kind of fish lived in the shallows."

Ryoko looked at the fish she held by their tails and shrugged.

"I wouldn't know."

"Well. Now all we need is a cooking fire."

Ryoko tossed the three white-fish at Tenchi's feet.

"That," she paused for dramatic effect, "really is no problem." Holding her right hand out, Ryoko made a small flame appear above her hand.

"Hey, nice trick." Tenchi complemented her again. "But I think we need some wood to burn, first."

"Wood, okay. Hold on a minute." Ryoko extinguished the flame and disappeared for a minute. Tenchi heard a huge ripping sound from the trees nearby. Ryoko reappeared a moment later with an entire palm tree over her shoulder.

"Here we go. Lots of wood."

"Ah, well, that certainly is a lot of wood. But I don't think it's going to burn."

"It'll burn."

"It's too wet."

"Trust me." Ryoko flashed a fiendish smile. "It'll burn."

"Ryoko," Tenchi tried to sound stern, "wet wood won't burn. Especially if it's that big."

"At least let me try!"

"I'd be happy to! But I know what's going to happen! You'll set a huge gout of flame on it, it'll smoke a little bit, and that's it! You'll keep trying more and more fire until you lose your temper and burn the whole island down with us on it!" Tenchi looked Ryoko right in the eye to get his point across. "It won't work."

Ryoko winced at Tenchi's sharp words. She hated it when he talked to her this way.

"I'll go get some drift wood." Tenchi gingerly rose to his feet.

"No!" Ryoko tossed the freshly plucked tree aside as if it were no more than the drift wood Tenchi was looking for. "No. You just sit still. I'll... I'll do it."

"Are you sure?" Tenchi asked.

"Yes!" Ryoko snapped back. "I said I'd get it, didn't I?"

"Okay! All right." Tenchi sat back down as Ryoko drifted through the air. "Make sure it's dry!" He shouted.

A huge explosion rocked the island.

"It's dry as Hell, over here!" Ryoko's harsh voice called back. "And, oh, look! It's burning!"

Tenchi decided to keep quiet for a while.

Ryoko returned a few minutes later with a large driftwood tree. It was easily four meters long and much too large to fit in their little clearing. Tenchi dared not tell Ryoko it was too big. But she figured it out when he looked at it without saying anything.

"What? Too big, right? Here, I can fix it." Ryoko summoned her energy saber and proceeded to hack the tree into small pieces. "There. Is that better?" She glared at Tenchi, daring him to disapprove.

"Yes." Tenchi told her.

"I knew it! How come nothing I do is..." Ryoko paused as she realized Tenchi had said "yes".

"Huh? What do you mean, "Yes"?"

"I mean yes. That's perfect."

"Really?" Ryoko did not seem to believe what Tenchi was saying.

"Really."

Smiling once more, Ryoko turned her attention back to the drift wood.

"Oh. Well, okay! One camp-fire, coming up!"

Together, Tenchi and Ryoko arranged the pieces of wood into a passable campfire. Using her powers, once more, Ryoko started the smaller pieces burning. Soon, the had a cheery fire going. However, the lack of kitchen-ware halted their progress towards a decent meal.

"Oops. I didn't even think about it." Tenchi suddenly announced.

"Think about what?"

"If we're going to cook, we need pots and pans."

"Can't we just stick 'em on a stick or something?"

"Uh, I guess. But what about plates and table-ware?"

"Sticks and stones?"

"I guess. Or we could just eat with our hands. There's another thing I just thought of. I don't know about you, but if I don't get enough fruits and vegetables, I'll end up getting sick."

Tenchi realized he now had Ryoko's full attention.

"Not right away, but eventually, it will happen. Unless, of course, Washu shows up. It looks like we're out in the ocean somewhere, so it might be a day or two. Ha-ha! I guess I'm just worrying about nothing."

Despite the negative aspects of an extended stay that Tenchi had just mentioned, Ryoko found the idea of a long time spent alone with Tenchi appealing. Although they had made up after the incident a couple weeks ago, relations between them were still a bit strained. Perhaps, now that they had some time to themselves, they could iron out some of the more sensitive details.

After another day, Washu still had not arrived. Tenchi's enthusiasm quickly began to wain. The midday heat was fairly strong, and Tenchi required a steady intake of water to replace what he lost through sweating. Their supply of coconuts was quickly dwindling.

"Ryoko, I've been thinking. If we could come up with some way to boil seawater and catch the steam, there'd be plenty of drinking water."

"Boil water, huh? Hmm." Ryoko considered the problem. After a moment, she held her hands out and conjured a large stainless steel pot. "Will this help?"

Tenchi's eyes bugged out.

"How did you do that?"

"Uh, I don't really know how it works. It just does."

"What else can you make?"

"Just about anything, if I know how it's made. Like the bath house. I made that. But only because I knew how it was put together. The same with a guitar or my clothes. A pot's easy compared to that."

"Can you make me some clothes? I'm gonna roast if I get any more sun."

"Sure." As easy as that, Ryoko conjured a set of Tenchi's favorite summer clothes. "Here you go." She cheerfully held out a light white shirt and khaki shorts.

"Wow! Thanks, Ryoko. You're a life-saver!"

Ryoko smiled brightly at his compliments. His words reminded her of the time aboard Ryo-o-ki when he had spoken so highly of her. Her smile quickly faded as she remembered that Tenchi no longer had any memory of that time. As Tenchi pulled the shirt over his head, he noticed that Ryoko's expression was not as happy as it was a moment ago.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Um... I saw some really big leaves on a tree in the woods. What if we put that over the pot. The steam would cool on it. Then the water would go down the leaf and we could catch it in another pot."

"That's... a really good idea. Maybe you should go to college."

"Me?" Ryoko looked at Tenchi as if he were crazy. "Yuck. Too boring."

"You know, I've been wondering about that. Have you ever had any formal education?"

"Nope. And that's fine with me." Ryoko answered as she laid down on her back and closed her eyes. "Sitting at a desk all day doesn't exactly do it for me."

"Me neither. But it's important if you want to succeed in life."

"I've never had a day of school and look at me."

"Yeah, no kidding. You've been living off of my dad's income for almost three years."

"Hey. I help out in the house, and Sasami's teaching me to cook."

"True. And we're all grateful for the help. But I think you'd do pretty well in school. I know you're smart. You've just never had the opportunity to show it."

Ryoko cracked an eye open so she could look at Tenchi. She appreciated Tenchi saying he thought she was smart, even though the subject matter they were discussing was not exactly to her taste.

"Anyway, why don't you show me where those leaves are? I'm sure that between the two of us, we can get something to work. My back's feeling better, and I'm sore from sitting around for so long. We can even take a look for some fruit trees while we're walking around. I could use some fruits and vegetables."

To Ryoko, a walk through the woods with Tenchi sounded like a great idea.

At the end of the first week, Tenchi decided he needed a real bath. He swam in the ocean, which helped. But now it was no longer sufficient. Ryoko had not said anything, but Tenchi knew he stank.

"I don't know about you, but I could use a real bath."

It was only an offhand comment, but Ryoko took it as a serious request.

"Okay. I'll have something for you by tomorrow morning."

Tenchi thought she was joking. But, just after dawn the next morning, Ryoko woke him earlier than he would have liked.

"Tenchi, wake up. I want to show you something."

"Wha? It's early."

"So what? You should be used to it." She pulled him to his feet. "Come on. You'll like it. I promise."

Annoyed, yet curious, Tenchi got up and followed Ryoko into the still dim foliage. She led him to the base of the volcano where a large, bowl-shaped, pool of water steamed at waist height. On the edge of the pool rested an honest to goodness real sea-sponge.

"Ryoko!" Tenchi exclaimed. "Did you make this?"

"Sure did." She proudly claimed.

"How?"

"Does it matter?"

"Well, no. I guess not." Tenchi quickly stripped off his shirt and climbed in with his shorts still on. When Ryoko began to follow him, Tenchi quickly put a stop to her plans.

"Ryoko, I prefer to bathe alone."

"I know. But somebody has to wash your back for you. You're covered in dirt."

Tenchi inwardly groaned. She had a very good point. There was no way he could adequately clean his back with just a sponge. Tenchi turned away as Ryoko quickly stripped off her clothes. She jumped in right next to him, splashing hot water everywhere. When she came up, Ryoko reached over and grabbed the sponge. She immediately began scrubbing the dirt from Tenchi's back. 

The cleansing action actually felt pretty good. The filth had been starting to itch, so Ryoko's attention to his cleanliness was well received. She was very thorough, making sure to get every spot. Tenchi decided he rather liked having his back scrubbed. It was very relaxing.

"Tenchi?"

"Hmm?"

"I wasn't going to say anything, and it's not like I don't like it, but, haven't you noticed I'm not washing your back anymore?"

Tenchi looked down to see Ryoko was now washing his chest. She had one hand on his shoulder while the other snaked around his midsection. He could remember how Ryoko had slowly worked her way forward and how he had barely taken notice of it. He was so relaxed, he had not thought to stop her. Tenchi reached up and gently pulled the sponge from Ryoko's grasp.

"Thanks. I can get the rest."

"Damn. I should have kept my mouth shut."

Tenchi grinned.

"I guess so."

"My turn!"

"Huh?"

"Now you have to wash my back."

"Wait a minute..."

"Come on, Tenchi. I have the same problem you do. Wash my back."

Tenchi sighed in resignation. He did not speak any further, only applying the sponge to Ryoko's back.

"Mmm, harder."

Tenchi rubbed harder. Unlike Ryoko, Tenchi stuck strictly to the middle of the back. When he had scrubbed the area clean, Tenchi announced his completion.

"Done."

"Tenchi-i-i! I did your whole back and then some!" Ryoko pouted. "You're not being fair."

"Ryoko, the idea was to wash the parts you couldn't reach. I did that."

Ryoko's shoulders slumped.

"You don't like being close to me, do you?"

Tenchi immediately recognized the pattern this conversation was adopting. He had sworn he would never hurt Ryoko like that again, no matter what. He had also thought long and hard over what to say if this ever came up again. Now he was prepared to deal with the situation.

"Ryoko, it's not you. It's me. I'm not ready for a serious relationship. It doesn't mean there can't be something in the future." Tenchi put the sponge back up to Ryoko's skin as a consolation. "Please don't be angry. I'm flattered you feel that way about me." Tenchi consented to scrubbing a wider area. Tenchi let the silence that followed continue for a while before talking again.

"Can I ask a personal question?"

"Only if it's juicy." Ryoko's sense of humor seemed to have returned.

"Why did you leave?"

Though the question itself was vague, Ryoko knew Tenchi was talking about Zak. She also knew what Tenchi really wanted to know was why she stayed with Zak for so long.

"Nothing happened, Tenchi. I swear nothing -- " She stopped short. Ryoko would not lie to Tenchi. She was still trying to understand exactly what happened between her and Zak. However it had happened, it was more than she had intended.

"I guess that's not true. I was... hurting. I don't understand." There was a pause while Ryoko considered her words. "When he... Zak... could make me feel the way I wanted you to make me feel. Dammit, I can't believe I let him play me like that."

"The more I learn about him, the more I dislike the guy."

Ryoko looked over her shoulder. Tenchi rarely admitted if he disliked someone.

"Tenchi, are you jealous?"

Tenchi almost said no. But something stopped him. He reviewed in his mind how Zak and Ryoko's relationship had progressed.

"Maybe just a little."

After a few moments more, Tenchi realized he had finished washing Ryoko's back.

"All right. This time I really am done."

"Thank you, Tenchi."

"Sure."

"You can wash my front, if you like."

"I'm sure you could do a better job of it yourself."

"Damn."

Tenchi smiled. He had meant it when he said Ryoko's feeling for him were flattering. For a moment, Tenchi felt an impulse to embrace Ryoko and show her he really cared about her. He held back for a moment and the feeling passed, leaving Tenchi with more questions. At least this time, Ryoko was not mad at him.

Tenchi could tell Ryoko was getting extremely bored. He was feeling pretty restricted, as well. Even though they had the run of the island, it was still just an island. They needed some entertainment. Tenchi knew plenty of physical routines to keep both in shape and occupied. Maybe Ryoko would join him. After they had their dinner that evening, Tenchi invited Ryoko to practice.

"You want to teach me how to fight?" Ryoko smiled.

"Do you have something better to do?"

"I just remember a certain school house burning down."

Tenchi scowled. He also remembered how Ryoko had chased him around his school. Her recklessly destructive behavior had gotten the place torched. Still, Tenchi had defeated her.

"I remember that." He said slyly. "I also remember who won."

"No fair! You had help!"

"Excuses, excuses."

"But -- "

"No buts. I heard Washu nagging you about how you've let your fighting skills deteriorate. No warrior worth her salt would let that happen. Well, it's your choice. I'm going to practice." With that Tenchi got up and left. He slowly walked a short way down the beach and began stretching.

"Tenchiii!" Ryoko pleaded for him to come back.

"If you want to be with me you have to come practice!" Tenchi yelled back.

Ryoko flopped down onto the sand. She lay there for a while, grumbling and feeling lonely. After fifteen minutes of loneliness, she got up, and slowly floated over to where Tenchi was still warming up. She stretched out on a large log and watched him.

Occasionally, Tenchi tossed a quick look in her direction. But, for the most part, he concentrated on his practice. Ryoko watched on and off as Tenchi stretched and twisted. After he felt sufficiently relaxed, he moved on to forms.

"What's the point to that?" Ryoko suddenly asked.

"The point to what?"

"Doing that pattern?"

"Patterns build stance, direction, and technique."

"Huh?"

"Practice makes perfect." Tenchi explained as he completed his second form. "By doing these forms, I get to practice the basic techniques in the way they were designed to be applied. The patterns are actually mock-combat against imaginary opponents."

"You've got to be kidding! That'll never work in a real fight."

"You're right."

Ryoko's eyebrows went up.

"I am?"

"Sure. You're not supposed to do these patterns in an actual fight. It's kind of like a demonstration."

"Ah. So if I went over there and tried to kick your butt, I'd win."

"Hmm." The barest hint of a grin fleetingly passed over Tenchi's face. "Why don't you try it and find out?"

"Nah. I wouldn't want to embarrass you."

"Oh, come on. I can almost beat Grandpa, now."

"Forget it." She said, turning her head away.

Tenchi sighed with frustration.

"Ryoko, you always used to say that you want to spend more time with me. I can tell you're bored and I thought you might like to do something like this. I'm willing to teach you what I know, if you're willing to learn."

It was the right thing to say. Ryoko sat up and looked lovingly at Tenchi for several seconds before responding.

"Why didn't you just say so?"

Tenchi's jaw dropped.

"Ah, well, um..."

Ryoko smiled as she hopped off the log to join him. As she walked, her black and red battle-suit phased into existence over her body, replacing the tiger-striped bikini she had been wearing.

"Okay, Sensei. Teach me." She demanded when she reached Tenchi's side.

"All right." Tenchi said with a smile. "Let's see what you know."

He took a step back.

"I'm going to throw a couple of punches at you. I want you to block them."

"No problem."

Tenchi threw his first punch at chest level at moderate speed. Almost instantly, he found himself thrown backwards onto the sand. Although he had barely even seen what Ryoko had done, he had felt it. She had followed his instructions to block. But after that she had stepped outside the punch and tripped him over backwards with a good shove and a leg placed strategically behind his feet.

"How's that?" Ryoko gloated, standing over him.

"Jeez, you're fast." He said climbing to his feet. "But I only wanted you to block, not counter. I need to see what you know and how well you know it."

"Hmm." Ryoko considered that for a moment. "Okay. I get what you're saying. Do it again."

"Okay."

Tenchi took up a front stance and threw another punch at her. Ryoko easily slapped the hand aside.

"That's it. I'll punch at different areas and you just keep blocking."

"Gotcha."

As Tenchi threw his punches at different levels and speeds, he found that Ryoko knew enough to block away from her body. But when he started throwing at the centerline of her body, she became indecisive as to which direction to block. After a few more similar punches, Tenchi found that she usually deferred to her left arm and leaned away from the attack. Once he was fairly certain he had a good understanding of Ryoko's defensive capabilities, Tenchi called an end to the exercise.

"Okay. That's enough."

"So? What do you think?" Ryoko confidently asked, grinning from ear to ear.

"It seems like you know the basics of blocking. But, you could benefit from more extensive training."

The grin disappeared.

"However, I could tell you wanted to move away from the attack, rather than stand there and take it. That's good. Why don't we keep going. This time, I'll throw in some kicks, and you move around how you want."

"Okay."

As Tenchi assumed an 'L'-stance, he noticed that Ryoko stood at ease, without assuming any sort of stance of her own. This would have to be corrected. He made a mental note to check her stances after this exercise.

Tenchi attacked, and Ryoko leapt to the side. Tenchi was pleased when she tensed for a moment, then relaxed without striking. The fact that she had moved aside from the attack and into her own striking range showed that she really did know what she was doing, even if her technique was weak. He found that when he went after her body, she moved aside, whereas if he went for the head, she tended to move ahead, taking away his reach.

Mixing up attacks with feints, Tenchi began to get Ryoko to make small mistakes. However, her superior speed kept her out of trouble. Now that he was getting a better idea of her evasive tactics, Tenchi began using that to his advantage. The next time he attacked Ryoko at head level, he immediately followed up by jumping into the air and kicking at her midsection. As he expected, Ryoko moved closer, catching the ball of his foot right in the middle of the chest. She stumbled backwards and fell down on her rear. She growled, disappointed in her poor performance.

Tenchi knelt down in front of Ryoko. He had meant to give her a good push. But he was still worried that he had used too much force.

"Are you all right?"

Ryoko met Tenchi's gaze for a moment. The disappointment she felt flowed away when she saw Tenchi's concerned look. She shook her head with a furtive laugh.

"Now you know how the old-man beat me." She held her right hand out to him. "Help a lady up?"

Tenchi relaxed when Ryoko let the matter go. He got back to his feet, then he helped Ryoko up by pulling on her hand. With his assistance, she easily made it upright. She then let go of his hand and brushed the sand from her suit.

"Okay. You've proven you can kick my butt. So when to I get to fight back?"

Tenchi smiled. This was the Ryoko he was used to. He stepped back and assumed a good fighting position, rather than a strict stance.

"Any time you're ready."

With a look of excitement, Ryoko attacked.

Tenchi looked around to see if Ryoko were present. She seemed to spend a lot of time in the small onsen she had made for them. But, right now, she appeared to be else where. Breathing a sigh of relief, he removed his clothes and slipped into the steaming waters. Salt had begun to accumulate around the edges of the pool, giving it a frosted look.

As Tenchi rubbed himself down with the sponge, he noticed a cyan-colored fin surface. It swam slowly back and forth as it approached him. When the fin came with an arm's length, Tenchi held out his hand under the water. It was no surprise when he felt Ryoko's forehead smack into it. Rising from the water, she revealed herself.

"And where do you think you're going?" Tenchi suspiciously asked her.

"Um, heh. Ah, no where?" It was more of a question than an answer.

"That's what I thought." Tenchi accepted Ryoko's excuse as he lowered his arm.

Ryoko reached up to wrap her arms around Tenchi's neck.

"Tenchi would you like me to scrub your back again?"

"No, thank you. In fact, if I had known you were here, I would have waited until later."

Tenchi tried to disentangle himself from Ryoko's grasp. She just giggled in amusement. Then she spoke in a low and seductive voice.

"Tenchi, let me show you what I can really do."

"I don't wanna know!" Tenchi complained as he finally managed to free himself from Ryoko's iron grasp. He started climbing out of the pool, then, just in time, he remembered he had no towel.

"Tenchiii!" Ryoko called to him again.

"Would you please turn around while I get out?" Tenchi insisted.

After a couple seconds of waiting for her reply, Tenchi heard Ryoko moving away from him.

"Will you stay if I leave you alone?" Ryoko sullenly asked.

Tenchi risked a glance over his shoulder. Ryoko was already on the other side of the pool, looking off into the trees with her arms over the side. He considered the risks involved versus how emotionally unstable Ryoko had become in recent weeks and decided he could afford to show some compassion for her sake.

"All right, Ryoko. I'll stay if you promise to let me take my bath in peace."

Ryoko stared off into the foliage in silence.

"Ryoko, you have to promise." Tenchi insisted.

"All right, I promise." She reluctantly answered.

Satisfied, Tenchi resumed scrubbing with the sponge. After a few calming minutes, he began to think he might have over-reacted. Looking in Ryoko's direction, Tenchi saw she was resting her head on her arms. Ryoko's upper-body formed an inverted trapezoid above the water. The musculature in her back stood out, showing how well-built she was. To the sides, Tenchi could see the roundness of her breasts showing. Realizing he was openly admiring Ryoko's body, Tenchi quickly averted his gaze.

"I'm sorry I yelled."

Ryoko turned around, and submerged herself up to the neck in hot water.

"It's okay." She looked up at the sky. "I'm used to it."

"Do I really yell at you that much?"

Ryoko thought about it for a second and decided she was tired of being yelled at.

"Yes."

Tenchi thought more about how Ryoko acted towards him. She had said any number of times she loved him, and he believed it. It was only natural for her to want to be with someone she loves. Tenchi decided he was being hypocritical for telling Ryoko off so strongly, when, only a moment ago, he had been staring at her body.

As he thought about what she had said, Tenchi found something odd. Ryoko had said she wanted to show him what she could really do for him. He wondered how she knew she could do anything for anybody unless she had been with someone before. The question gnawed at Tenchi for several minutes until he could not stand it any longer.

"Ryoko?"

"Mmm?"

"Can I... ask a personal question?"

"Go ahead." She offered.

"Um, you said something about, ah, showing what you know..."

A small grin broke out on Ryoko's lips.

"Did you change your mind?"

"Ah, no. What I meant was, um... I hope you don't mind me asking. But, how DO you know?"

Ryoko continued to look up at the sky. A blue sky which held no comfort for her now. Tenchi had finally figured out the truth. She had liked knowing Tenchi thought of her as a virgin. The truth was she had lost that tens of hundreds of years ago. The memory of that time came back to her unbidden. It was a time she wished to hide from Tenchi forever. Although, she supposed it meant he was taking more of an interest in her.

"I guess the secret's out." Ryoko replied with a sigh. "It wasn't Zak, if that's what you're thinking."

Tenchi remained silent.

"It's ancient history, Tenchi. Old news, like me." She sighed again. "When I was first moving around, doing Kagato's dirty work, I heard about sex, and love, and other things, too. I didn't have those feelings or the knowledge of what they were. So, in my spare time, I tried to find out."

"Ryoko," Tenchi finally interrupted, "you don't have to explain. I understand."

"No, Tenchi. I don't think you do. Eeh, besides, it was bound to come up sooner or later."

"If it's too personal..."

"Doesn't matter. My life's an open book. All you have to do is look at my Galaxy Wanted File, if you can still find a copy. It's all there. Death, destruction, theft..." Ryoko lowered her face almost to the water and breathed in the rising moisture.

"I told you I was learning about peoples' feelings and why they did things. Before people began to recognize me, guys were always hitting on me. At first I didn't know what to do. If I had the time and the inclination, I'd go out with him, just to see what he had planned. Eventually, one of them asked me if I wanted to go to his apartment."

"Ryoko," Tenchi interrupted again, "you don't have to tell me. I get the idea."

"No, Tenchi. I'm... sick of living a lie. I want you to know the truth."

"You can guess what happened." Ryoko continued. "He wanted sex and I wanted to know what it was like, so I let him. He got really pissed when I just laid there like one of Aeka's logs. Afterwards, he told me how lousy I was and..." she reached up to wipe a stray tear, "damn it... he said I was a cold-hearted slut and that he wouldn't screw me again if I were the last woman on the planet." A small laugh of irony issued from Ryoko's lips.

"I actually got mad. I thought that, because I hadn't felt anything, that he had done it wrong. So I hit him. He, um, didn't get up. A couple days later, the local cops caught up to me. They shot at me and Ryo-o-ki, so I shot back. They didn't get up, either. You know what the stupid part is? I didn't even realize I was the one with the problem. I kept trying with other guys until I got tired of trying. Sometimes more than one. I even tried it with women. No matter how many times or who I did it with, I never felt a thing." Ryoko finally made eye contact with Tenchi.

"I never felt anything until I met you." She looked away again. "But, now that you know what I really am, you probably think I'm really messed up." Ryoko stood up in the water. Turning around, she climbed out and up until she was standing on the rim of the onsen she had made for Tenchi.

"Everything Aeka ever said about me was true. I am a monster. I was stupid to think you could ever love me." Ryoko hung her head in defeat.

Tenchi stared at Ryoko in shock. Never had he heard her say such pitiful things. It made him angry that she was just giving up on what had always been most important to her. Ignoring Ryoko's naked body, Tenchi waded across the pool, making sure not to step in the central vent. When he reached the far side, he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her over backwards into the water.

Ryoko hit with a huge splash, spraying water all over the place. She hung suspended in the warm liquid for a moment, then rose to the surface. As soon as she emerged, Tenchi began splashing her with the largest waves he could make.

"Everything you just said is crap! Get mad! Get happy! Anything! Just quit acting so damn pitiful!" Ryoko tried to defend herself against the waves of water. But Tenchi continued his assault. "Come on, fight back! Show me how strong you are! Do something besides wallowing in your own self-pity!"

His next wave of water vaporized just before striking Ryoko. She suddenly burst through the wall of steam with a growl and an expression of anger. For a moment, Tenchi thought he had pushed her too far. Ryoko tackled him, driving the both of them across the pool. They slammed into the far wall with a loud thud.

Tenchi waited for the pain of broken bones to come, but there was none. He thought maybe he deserved it for ignoring Ryoko's feelings for so long. But all he felt was the distraught woman's strong limbs around his shoulders and waist. She had protected him from the impact with her arms and legs. Tenchi opened his eyes, and found Ryoko staring right through his eyes and into his soul. He stared back, showing her he was not afraid.

"The Ryoko you told me about doesn't exist anymore." Ryoko's eyes got wide as Tenchi told her what he had to, to get her to believe in herself. "I like you better when you show your true self."

Tenchi did not flinch when Ryoko suddenly leaned forward and kissed him. He allowed her this moment so she would believe what he was saying. Somehow, Tenchi knew if he refused Ryoko at this point, that would be the end of it. The end of what, he was not sure. But the end of something, to be sure.

Tenchi began to notice how close Ryoko held him against her body. He could feel the tightness of her legs around his waist and the firmness of her breasts against his chest. As he began to relax, Tenchi found himself enjoying the long, open-mouthed kiss. He moved his hands to Ryoko's waist, causing her to tighten her embrace in response. But with enjoyment also came excitement. Tenchi decided to stop things before Ryoko found out just how excited he was getting. Leaning back to signal he was finished, Tenchi pried his face from Ryoko's.

"I... liked that. But I, um, kind of need some space right now."

Ryoko looked at him in confusion.

"Could you move back, please?"

Instead of heeding his warning, Ryoko set her head down on his shoulder.

"I don't understand you, Tenchi. One minute we're kissing, and the next you tell me to get away. Why?"

"Ryoko, please. I need you to back up."

"Tell me why!"

"Ryoko..."

Ryoko's head snapped up when Tenchi's body answered her question for him.

"Tenchi..."

Tenchi's face flushed red with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry! I can't help it when that happens! I, um, warned you."

Ryoko laughed deep in her throat.

"It's all right. I'd be more upset if that didn't happen."

"Ryoko. Please, back up."

"All right, Tenchi. Here you go." Ryoko moved back a decimeter.

"That's not what I meant." Tenchi told her after a moment of silence.

"How about this, then?"

She move forward again, pressing her entire body against his. Tenchi's hands fell from her waist and his head rolled back.

"Is that what you want?" She suggestively inquired.

Tenchi did not answer. Neither did he move. Curious as to the sudden change, Ryoko leaned back so she could see his face. His eyes were closed and a thin stream of blood oozed from his left nostril. Ryoko groaned her disappointment.

_"Not again."_

Somewhere, Ryoko had found lobsters. Dripping salt-water everywhere, she gleefully presented them to Tenchi for their dining pleasure. Tenchi had noticed how she seemed to be in good spirits since they had started training together. He was actually spending more time training with Ryoko than he ever did with his Grandfather. The thing was, he was enjoying it. Training with Grandpa had always seemed like a chore. Practicing with Ryoko was fun! Tenchi gave his practice partner a broad smile.

"Hey! Looks good!"

Ryoko knelt down and set the lobsters on the sand between them.

"How do they taste?"

Tenchi had to think about that one. There was not much one could use to describe the taste of lobster.

"Well, um, I guess... they taste like lobster."

"Oh, ha ha! You're a big help!"

One of the brown crustaceans flapped it's tail, sending a plume of sand into the air.

"Whoa!" Tenchi exclaimed. "You better catch that one before he crawls away."

"Oh, no, you don't!" Ryoko pounced on the still vigorous shellfish, keeping it from escaping. With a chuckle at the silly scene, Tenchi leaned to his left and pulled one of the large metal pots Ryoko had previously conjured to the small fire-pit. There was already a small cooking fire going in the shallow pit they had dug, so Tenchi put the empty pot on the hot stones nestled within.

"Okay! Now we just need some water."

"Water, coming up!" Ryoko held out a hand and several liters of fresh water suddenly fell into the pot. Scattering droplets fell onto the hot stones, making them hiss and spit at the cold caresses. Tenchi stared at the pot in awe. Every time she did something like that, it absolutely amazed him. A moment later, Ryoko held the lobsters over the pot. But, for some reason, she hesitated.

"Ryoko?"

Ryoko slowly pulled the lobsters from certain doom. She stared at them as they flailed about with their spindly legs.

"Tenchi, is there some way we can cook lobsters without boiling them alive?"

Tenchi looked at Ryoko, then the lobsters, then the pot, back to the lobsters, and finally, back to Ryoko. He could not believe Ryoko was showing compassion for a lobster! It was the strangest thing. It was also strangely endearing. Tenchi smiled.

"If there is, I don't know about it."

"Umm..." Ryoko gave Tenchi a questioning look. It was the look that usually meant she had a question, but was too embarrassed to ask.

"Why don't we let them go?"

Tenchi's suggestion seemed to satisfy Ryoko. She turned the lobsters towards her face and started talking to them.

"Sound good to you guys?"

The one in her left hand reached out with it's cutter claw and snipped her bikini top clean in half. The severed cloth burst open, revealing her well-formed breasts.

"Hey!"

Ryoko looked at Tenchi to see how he was reacting to this. He was already facing away from her, quietly humming to himself. Indignancy flared.

"Is that the thanks I get? Screw you!" Ryoko tossed the lobsters in the pot without further thought. "Tenchi, we're having lobster for dinner. Any problem with that?"

"No, Ryoko. Not at all."

Ryoko noticed that Tenchi seemed to be shaking.

"Are you okay?"

Tenchi tried desperately to keep from laughing out loud.

"Yes."

Ryoko watched him a bit closer.

"You're... laughing at me."

Tenchi could not take it any more. His control failed and he started laughing.

"I'm sorry!" He told Ryoko between breaths. "But... hee-hee after all the times... ha-ha-ha... you've teased us about... hah-hah... being naked, snicker... you've had it coming! Ah-ha ha ha ha! It's too funny!"

Ryoko disagreed.

"Stop laughing at me!"

"I can't help it!"

If Tenchi had been able to see through his tears of laughter, he would have seen the look of dismay on Ryoko's face. It was not that she was embarrassed by what had happened, she was worried that Tenchi would catch sight of her naked body and get upset. He always got upset if he saw her without her clothes on.

"It's not funny!" Ryoko got up and flew away.

When Tenchi realized that Ryoko had taken offense at his levity, he was finally able to stop laughing. He really did think it was funny. No harm had been done to either of them and, in his opinion, she really had had it coming. He simply could not understand why she was so upset.

Ryoko did not return to their small dwelling that night. Nor did she attend the next day's training session. Tenchi still went through the routines. But, without her there, it was rather droll. Finally, she returned for dinner the next night, sort of.

When Tenchi returned after completing the rigorous routines, he found an entire hammer-head shark lying in the sand next to his abode. There were three neat holes burned completely through it near the front, just behind the head. Tenchi scratched his head.

"I guess this is dinner." He shrugged. "Well, could be worse. At least it's edible."

He went under the palm frond roof to find the knife that Ryoko had conjured for him so he could help make meals. Something lying carelessly across the knives caught his attention. When he picked it up to examine it, he realized it was a pad of spiral bound paper with a pen stuck in the spirals. Curious, he opened the cover and began to read the words inside.

_"**I DON'T UNDERSTAND!** One minute you're nice, and the next you're mean! It makes me so mad! No, I'm not mad... I don't know. I don't understand anything about you. I want you to love me. Nobody loves me."_

"I watched you grow up. We grew up together. Sort of. I wish you could remember about Zak. I just can't forget hearing you say you love me. We kissed! It was beautiful. We held each other so close. I want to hold you again. I want you to hold me again. I want you to touch me. Whisper in my ear that you love me. BUT YOU WON'T DO ANY OF THAT! I don't understand. It's not fair!"

At the end there was a small line-face with dots of tears coming from the eyes. Tenchi's heart writhed in his chest. For several seconds he could not even think of how to respond to such a heart-felt confession. Finally, when he regained his sanity, one sentence continued to stare him in the face; "Nobody loves me."

Without any further consideration of the consequences, Tenchi immediately began writing a response.

_"That's not true. We all love you. It's just that I don't feel comfortable getting that close to someone. I know what'll happen if we get together. I don't want to do the wrong thing. I don't want to mess it up for you. I'm not good enough for you. If we get close, I won't want to let go. Then something will happen, I know it. I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to hurt anybody."_

The next part was difficult for Tenchi to write.

_"All the women in my family died. I never knew my Grandmother. And my Mother died when I was young. I don't want anyone else to die. I don't want you to die."_

Quickly, before he changed his mind, Tenchi closed the notepad and set it on the sand in a place safely away from the fire-pit. Though he was nervous, he felt as if he had finally said something that would make a difference without hurting Ryoko's feelings. In addition, he had shared with her a very personal issue he had never before shared with another person. It was no longer an issue of trust for him. It was an issue of understanding. It was obvious that neither of them understood the other, so it was high-time they addressed that issue. Suddenly, Tenchi thought of something else he wanted to tell Ryoko. He took the pad up again and wrote a little more.

_"I care about you. A lot more than you know."_

"There." With a firm nod, Tenchi put the pad back. "That's what I wanted to say."

Feeling better about the situation, he then set to carving shark steaks for dinner.

The next morning, Tenchi found the shark carcass had been replaced by a different fish for breakfast. This time it was not as large, but it sure was ugly. It's skin was mottled dark grey and brown. It was about half a meter long with a thick skull and really nasty teeth. He had some doubts about whether or not the fish would even be edible.

"I guess she didn't like what I wrote."

Looking around, Tenchi found the notepad propped up against the entrance to the small shelter. He ignored the fish and retrieved the pad.

_"That's bull! If you don't want to be with me, just say so, and I'll leave. Don't give me a bunch of lame excuses! People die! That's the way it works. Wait. I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry your mom died. I remember that. I wish I could have done something to help. I have an idea. Why don't we get married? Then we'll both have a mom and a dad!"_

There was a big smiley-face at the end of the sentence. Tenchi rolled his eyes at the thought of being married to Ryoko. That kind of life was way in the future. Tenchi read on.

_"I know. You're not ready to get married. That's okay. Me neither. I just wish you would show how you feel more. It hurts when you push me away. It didn't used to hurt. Please don't hurt me anymore. I love you."_

Tenchi could barely lift his hand to write another response. His heart hurt so much it felt as if it would burst. Something within him was responding intensely to the feelings that Ryoko was trying to relate to him. Somehow, where talking and acting had failed, she was finally getting to him with written words. He could no longer treat her the same, knowing that she was being hurt by his actions, or lack thereof. Something had to change, he just was not sure what. The words began to flow from his hand.

_"Ryoko, I don't know what to do. The harder I try to keep from hurting you, the worse I do. I was a little"._ Changing his mind, Tenchi scratched the words "a little". _"I was mad at you when you said that what I wrote was bull. They're not lame excuses. That's really the way I feel. I'm really scared that something could happen. I don't want anything to happen to you. I want you to be safe and happy. After everything you've been through, you deserve that more than anyone. DON'T LEAVE! Please? I promise I'll try to do better. I want you to understand how I feel about you. Why don't you come back to train this afternoon? I had the impression you liked practicing with me. I think you're very good at it. I liked how we could be together without there being so much stress."_

Tenchi decided that was a good place to end his entry. He had no doubt there were a few other things he could say to Ryoko. But not much of it was coherent at this point. He needed more time to put some of his thoughts together after writing so much. With his mind a little quieter, he returned his attention to the fish.

"God, what am I gonna do with this thing?"

When Tenchi returned to his abode from a short pre-lunch walk, he found a small basket of various fruits from all over the island. Within the basket was the notepad. He marveled at the assortment Ryoko had collected for him. Surely it had taken all morning for her to find so many. Tenchi stood outside his shelter for the time being. Cloud cover had moved in and there was a stiff breeze from the South. It felt good to be comfortable for a change. Reaching down, he retrieved the pad and flipped the cover over.

_"I'm sorry I said that what you wrote was bull. I guess, if that's how you feel... I don't know. I just don't know what else to do."_

"I'm glad you want me to feel safe and happy. I like that feeling! But, the only time I feel that way is when I'm with you. And you always push me away or run away when I try to show you how I feel. I promised I would never leave again when you rescued me, and I meant it."

"Sometimes I think you only want me around because you're afraid that if I leave, I'll start doing things like Kagato made me do. I HATE HIM! I HATE EVERYTHING HE MADE ME DO! I hate myself for doing those things."

"You know what really hurts? After everything that happened, all you remember is that I stayed with someone else for a week. You only remember the bad stuff, and none of the good stuff. You save my life! You protected me. You said so many really nice things to me. You even said you loved me. I thought we were going to be together, finally, after so many years. Sometimes, I even dream about it. Being with you, my one true love, is all I have. I wish you would at least give me a chance. I know I don't know much about being someone's girlfriend. I don't know the things to do to impress you, or make you like me. Other guys like to look at me. They like me even more when I take off my clothes. I learned a long time ago that they like me the most when I let them have sex with me. But, I've learned that you're not like that. I don't know what you like, but I do know what you don't like. I've screwed-up enough times to figure out that real good. Maybe once you've stopped **laughing at me**, you can tell me what you like."

Tenchi cringed at the last sentence. But, he knew what to write to fix that.

_"Ryoko, I'm really sorry I laughed at you. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I'm sorry for all the times I've hurt your feelings. Sometimes, because of how we met, it's hard for me to remember that your feelings are just as sensitive as anyone else's. It's taken me a long time to get to the point where I thought of you as a person, rather than an alien or a demon. No matter how you were born, I do think of you as a person."_

"I did say that I want you to feel happy and safe. I guess I haven't been doing a very good job of that. From what you've written, I can tell you feel sad and alone. Forget about Kagato. He's gone and he's never coming back. Even if he did, I'd send him right back to where he came from."

"About being together... I don't think guys like you because you take off your clothes. They just like seeing a naked woman, especially one as attractive as you are. It wasn't you that they wanted. It's what you were doing. Just about everybody likes sex, so, of course guys seem to like you when you do that with them. I'll bet some of them even said they love you. It's not true! They just liked what was happening. That's why that guy you told me about said those mean things to you, afterwards. He didn't care about you as a person, he just liked what you did."

Tenchi took a deep breath as he considered the seriousness of what he was thinking of writing next.

_"I like you for who you are. I'm sorry for not giving you a chance. I think being here is our chance to get to know each other better. Writing like this has been a big help. I could never say half of this stuff. It's all important things that we needed to say to each other."_

"I also like how, when it comes to important things, I know I can trust you. Since this is important, I'm going to tell you something I probably shouldn't. I'd like to have you for a girlfriend. You're really cute, and I know being with you would feel great. Cheer-up! At least you have experience. I'll probably make a fool of myself my first time. But here's the problem. I like Aeka the same way. If I choose between the two of you, one of you will be hurt. I think that would hurt a lot more than any of the stupid things I've done before. That's not the only problem."

"If I choose, I need to be sure that the person I choose is someone I want to be with for the rest of my life. Once I'm with someone, I don't think I'll be able to change my mind. So, whomever I'm with my first time, I want to be the person I'm going to spend my life with. You're right about one thing, though. I'll never find that person if I never give anyone a chance. It's not fair that I went out with Aeka and never did the same thing with you. But, then again, she isn't here, either. I guess it kind of evens out. Please come back soon."

It took Tenchi a couple of seconds before he decided to end his entry there. There were a couple of other things he still wanted to say. But he decided to hold off for the time being, so that he would have more to write later. Hopefully, the next time they conversed, it would be face-to-face. In the meantime, Tenchi headed out to the beach for a swim in the wildly rolling surf.

After getting tossed like one of Sasami's garden salads for half an hour, Tenchi returned. The pad was right where he left it. Disappointed, he started to enter the shelter. However, something nagged at him. He stepped out again and picked up the notepad. Expecting that he would not find a response so soon, he flipped the pad to the last place he had written. Just underneath was one sentence written in Ryoko's handwriting.

_"See you at practice!"_

Tenchi grinned.

When the first raindrops began to fall, Tenchi decided he and Ryoko had better call an end to the session. He had been keeping an eye on the weather, and he could see the dark clouds approaching the island. A strong wind had gradually built and was pushing the line of thunderheads towards them.

"Okay, Ryoko. I think we had better call it quits."

"Aw, come on, Tenchi! Teach me another form."

"Another one?"

Tenchi stared at Ryoko in astonishment. Since they had started training together, she had all but mastered the forms he had already taught her. She could perform the movements with nearly perfect precision and flawless memory. The only mistakes she made were due to his inability as a teacher.

"I'd like to. But I think were in for some pretty bad weather. We had better find some better shelter."

"Don't worry about it." Ryoko reassured him by taking hold of his arm. "I'll protect you."

Tenchi scratched the back of his head with his remaining free hand.

"Uh, I'm sure you will. But I think we might be in for a typhoon. We need to gather some food before it gets any worse. Then we have to find someplace higher."

"Higher? What for?"

"Well, when the typhoon gets closer, the water will start to rise. The air in the eye of the typhoon pushes down on the ocean's surface, displacing the water outwards and upwards. It's kind of like when you get in a bathtub. If it's too full when you get in, the water overflows."

"Wow. I think you've been spending too much time with Washu."

Tenchi chuckled at that.

"Nah. I learned that in school."

Suddenly, a crack of thunder echoed across the island.

"Whoa! I think we waited too long!"

"How high will the water get?" Ryoko asked over the din of the bellowing wind.

"If we're lucky, it'll be less than a meter. It we're not, it could get as high as five meters."

"But that'll flood the whole island!"

Tenchi was very much aware that most of the island was less than five meters above sea level, depending on the tide. The only place that would be consistently higher was the slopes of the volcano. And with the wind and lightning, that was not a very safe place, either.

"I know." Tenchi stood there, shielding his face from the falling rain. "But, unless you have a better idea, we'll have to camp on the side of the volcano."

"No way! There's no shelter up there! Besides, what if it erupts?"

"We'll have to chance it."

It took only seven seconds for Ryoko to decide on a better course of action.

"I've got a better idea. Come on."

She grabbed Tenchi about the waist and teleported to the shelter they had made. The fire still burned fitfully, despite the water that assaulted it, trying to extinguish it's life. Taking a place between the fire and the beach, Ryoko erected a large energy shield. The wind immediately stopped and the rain no longer fell over the area she was covering. Tenchi looked around, impressed that she had found a way to grant them a temporary reprieve.

"You know, that's a pretty good idea. But, unless you plan on standing there for a few days, we still need to come up with another plan."

Ryoko looked over her shoulder in surprise.

"A few days?"

"Well, probably, depending on how big the storm is and how much of it hits us."

Ryoko growled as she directed her ire at the ocean, once again.

"Fine. I can do it." Raising her voice, Ryoko yelled at the ocean in defiance. "You're not getting my Tenchi! Do you hear me? Never!"

Tenchi stood silently by, amazed once more that Ryoko was willing to go to such lengths for his sake alone. He was fairly sure the typhoon posed her no danger. But, he wanted to be certain.

"Ryoko, you're not in any danger from this storm, are you?"

"Nope."

It was true, then. She was doing this solely for his benefit.

"Won't you get tired or hungry?"

"Nope."

Tenchi was very glad it was Ryoko whom he was stranded with. Further discussion on this topic would probably be a waste of time. Once Ryoko made up her mind as to his safety, no one in the universe could change it. Resigning himself to the situation, he sat down and stoked the fire in preparation for dinner.

All through the evening Ryoko stood silently holding the shield between them and the raging typhoon. Night came quickly with the increased cloud cover, rendering the whole island invisible, except for the flashes of lightning. If it weren't for the fire, Tenchi would never even have noticed that Ryoko had found a moment to change into one of her many dresses. However, as Tenchi ate his dinner, he began to notice how stuffy and smoky it was getting within the shield.

"Ryoko?"

"Yes, Tenchi?"

"I was wondering, can anything get through your shield?"

"Don't worry. Nothing's getting through."

"I hate to say it, but I think that might be a problem."

Ryoko looked over her shoulder at him.

"What do you mean?"

"If nothing gets through, that means that no air can get in. We'll suffocate."

Ryoko looked out at the roaring ocean. She did not bother to remind Tenchi that she could survive indefinitely with no oxygen, or even in a vacuum. It was a moot point. Whether or not she could survive, Tenchi needed fresh air to live. She thought about it for a long time. What she really needed was a way to let the air in and keep the water out.

As she compared the differences between the two, an idea began to form in her head. Air is a gas, and water is a liquid. Liquids are denser than gases, which is why they separate in a gravity field. After a while with no further progress, she directed her thoughts in a different direction.

What she really needed was something like a screen window that would keep water out of their small house, rather than bugs. Suddenly, she realized the connection. It was not density she needed to think about, it was volume.

"Hey, Tenchi. Which is bigger, air or water?"

"Huh? What do you mean by bigger?"

"Air and water are both made up of molecules, right? Which molecule is bigger?

"Oh, I see what you're getting at. Um, I'm pretty sure air molecules are smaller than water. Air is mostly free oxygen and nitrogen, while water is made up of oxygen and hydrogen molecules. Plus, surface tension holds water molecules together. Air doesn't have any surface tension."

Ryoko grinned. She closed her eyes and imagined her shield had an uncountable number of really small holes. Water immediately began spraying through the pin-sized holes, showering everything with a fine mist.

"Too big!" Tenchi exclaimed, shielding the fire.

Ryoko immediately shrank the hole size in half. The spray turned into a fine mist.

"Getting there."

"Well, come on! I don't think I can imagine anything smaller than that."

"Try. You can do it."

Ryoko bent her rarely used, yet considerable mental capacity to the task. She narrowed her sight to a small area of her shield and imagined the holes shrinking to about a quarter of their current size. She opened her eyes and saw that the mist had stopped. The shield seemed to weep as drops of water ran down the inside of the shield. Quickly, she forced the size of the holes to as small as she could see in her mind's eye. The remaining drops ran down and were not replaced. A very slight breeze, a draft really, still flowed in the same direction as the wind. Tenchi took a deep breath of the fresh air.

"Mmm. I knew you could do it."

Ryoko smiled.

"So, did I do something right?"

Tenchi got to his feet and joined her in looking out at the angry ocean.

"You've been doing a lot of things right, Ryoko."

Ryoko got a pleasant surprise when Tenchi put his arm around her shoulders. She looked at his face and saw that he seemed content. She slipped her arm around his waist and watched as he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She noticed the slight blush that came over his face. But he did not say or do anything to signal he disagreed with what she had done. She wondered if Tenchi had realized she could not do anything else without risking losing control over the shield. If that happened, the whole place would be flooded and Tenchi would probably get washed out to sea. That was definitely not her idea of a good time.

Overnight, the fire burned out. Neither of them had thought to keep a significant quantity of wood on hand so that they could keep the fire going. While Ryoko could have simply conjured more, she had not counted on maintaining her shield to be so mentally taxing. The physical act of doing so was not an issue. She had no real need for food or sleep, so continuing was no problem. However, she had found that her mind stayed more focused if she slept on a normal cycle like everyone else. Using more than one power at a time was significantly more difficult than just using one if she had not slept recently. So they decided to let the fire die, rather than risk getting flooded to keep it going. Tenchi had already eaten the ugly fish she had brought him, so there was little point to it, in any case.

The weather grew progressively worse. Rain and lightning beat down across the seascape, illuminating an ocean that seemed furious at itself. Immense waves crashed against each other. The angry waters slowly climbed the beach until they reached half a meter up the side of Ryoko's shield. The waves crashed against the shield, making conversation impossible.

Tenchi tried to keep himself from getting too bored by indulging in stretching and light exercises. At other times he reread some of the things he and Ryoko had written to each other in the notepad. At one point he started doodling on a blank page. He surprised himself when he realized he was drawing a young woman, standing on a beach, facing-off against a typhoon. It was then that he realized something inside of him was changing. Slowly, but surely, he was beginning to understand how Ryoko could feel so strongly for him.

_"Damn. What am I going to do?"_

When Tenchi awoke the next day, he found that the water had receded a great deal. However, the skies were an angry roiling black. Thunder and lightning still crackled around them and rain blasted across the ocean, scouring everything in it's path.

Some time around noon, or so Tenchi guessed, the rain suddenly stopped, and the wind came to a deafening halt. The skies cleared, and bright sunshine flooded the island. The two castaways looked about in wonder at the sudden change. Ryoko let her shield come down, allowing a cool breeze to sweep across the area, carrying away the stench of an area occupied for too long. Ryoko was the first to remark about the sudden calm.

"Well, that was quite an adventure, wasn't it?"

"You don't know the half of it."

"Hmm? What's that?"

"Seriously. You don't know the half of it. We're in the eye of the storm."

Tenchi stood up and looked around.

"Yup. Sure looks like it."

Ryoko imitated his movements, looking for herself everywhere that Tenchi looked.

"What? What are you looking at?"

"If I'm not mistaken, if you look over the trees in that direction, you'll see more clouds just like those." He pointed to the vertical wall of clouds the was rapidly receding away from them. "We're going to... Ryoko?" Tenchi looked around for the missing person.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Ryoko's voice called from above.

Tenchi looked up at Ryoko as she floated overhead.

"You mean I gotta stand around for another two days?"

"Well, you don't have to. That is, if you don't want to."

Ryoko descended to the ground where she could stand in front of Tenchi.

"Of course, I'm going to. What makes you think I wouldn't?"

Tenchi suddenly felt that feeling again. The feeling that said he was not doing enough. Unfortunately, he could not think of a way to act on that feeling.

"I, um... I... didn't mean it like that." His face started to blush as the feeling got stronger. "You've just... done so much already. I... thought you might want some rest. That's all."

"Hmm..." Ryoko stared at him suspiciously. "Are you sure?"

"Yes! Yes, I'm sure. Um, why don't we go looking for more food? With the water this low, there should be a bunch of fish stranded in the shallows."

Ryoko continued to watch suspiciously as Tenchi headed for the water.

It was not very long before the weather turned sour again. It came upon them almost without warning. The only sign they had was the towering cloud bank that eclipsed the bright blue sky with black mist. Tenchi took what he had for fruit in his arms and ran for the protective cover that he knew Ryoko would provide for him.

They both arrived at the same time, just as the rain began to resume it's torrential downpour. The shield went up and Tenchi was protected, once more. He looked at Ryoko to thank her and realized she was wearing one of her scantiest swimsuits and was dripping wet. He instantly noticed how the tiny droplets followed every curve of her well-toned musculature. Where drops encountered her bikini swimsuit, they flowed along the edges of the red material until they found a way around it.

"Tenchi?"

"Uh..."

"Jurai to Tenchi."

The entranced young man had to shake his head before he could meet Ryoko's smiling eyes.

"What?"

"Whatcha lookin' at?"

Tenchi instantly blushed when he realized Ryoko had seen him taking such a close look at her body. He cast about for an excuse. Seeing the eel (an eel?) she held in one hand, he presented that for his excuse.

"Uh, I was just looking at the, uh... eel. Yeah. Um, it's a Moray Eel."

"Hmm..."

Tenchi gulped as Ryoko gave him that same suspicious look.

"Is that what they call it? I know you Japanese like eels, so I thought this would do the trick. There wasn't a whole lot else around."

"Uh, yeah. They're probably in deeper water. I mean, would you want to be a fish in those waves?" He pointed out to sea.

As Ryoko tossed a semi-curious look over her shoulder, Tenchi immediately set to the task of preparing lunch. He quickly found the wooden crate filled with straw brooms that Ryoko had conjured for the fire before she went fishing.

"Okay. Brooms. Sure. Why not? The straw will make great tinder, and the handles will burn forever!"

With a whistle, Tenchi set to breaking up the brooms for the fire. Ryoko just stared at him as he worked, a confused look on her face. After a while, she tossed the dead eel aside and returned her attention to the raging ocean.

The typhoon blew out faster than it blew in. The first signs of relief came towards the end of the next day. The winds began to slacken and more sunlight was able to penetrate the cloud cover. However, since it was later in the day, only Ryoko, with her exceptional vision, was able to notice the changing light.

Tenchi checked on her more frequently than the previous two days. He constantly asked her if she was feeling well, or if she needed anything. It got to the point where she was getting annoyed, rather than amused. He also looked at her frequently. She had forgotten to change out of her bikini before resuming her post. She wondered if she should chance trying to conjure something more modest, despite the huge waves beating at the edges of her shield. Eventually, she decided against it. If he wanted to look at her, then it was fine with her. There was no way she was going to take a chance with Tenchi's safety.

Tenchi awoke the next morning to a quiet island. The sound of dripping plants and the surf crashing upon the beach were stunningly pleasant compared to the roar he had been hearing for the last few days. As always there was the smell of salt water. Wondering if Ryoko was still standing at her position, Tenchi opened his eyes to check on her. A long mane of cyan hair filled his range of vision.

Pulling back a little, Tenchi realized that, not only was Ryoko no longer at her post, she was sleeping right in front of him. After getting over his initial shock, Tenchi smiled. He felt relieved she had finally broken her vigil to get some rest. As he laid behind her, he felt that feeling again. A feeling that clearly said he needed to show Ryoko he cared for her, rather than just saying it. Haltingly, he raised his free hand until it hovered just over her slim waist. He hesitated, wondering if Ryoko were awake, or even if he really wanted to take such a large risk. Tenchi closed his eyes for a moment as he consulted with the feelings that filled his heart. His hand slowly dropped until he felt her smooth skin. Ryoko's hand suddenly slapped over his, holding his hand in place.

"I'm sorry! I wasn't trying anything! I just, um..."

Ryoko low, throaty laugh filled the morning air.

"It's all right. Mmm. You just caught me by surprise."

The young woman lying in front of him turned over, bringing her only a few centimeters from his face.

"Tenchi?"

"Yes?"

"I stood there for almost five days protecting you."

"Yes, you did."

"I expect to be richly rewarded for my self-sacrifice."

"What did you have in mind?"

Ryoko took hold of his hand once more and placed on her waist again.

"Why don't you decide?"

As Tenchi looked deep into Ryoko's golden eyes, he thought of the perfect way to show his appreciation of what she had done for him. It was not too much to start, but it was sufficient to show how he felt. As he considered his options, he gingerly felt her smooth skin with his fingertips. The feeling suddenly hit him full-force. His decision was simple.

"All right."

Tenchi closed his eyes and leaned forward until he felt Ryoko's lips against his. At first, he was unsure of exactly what to do. Fortunately, Ryoko was quick to take the lead. They kissed for what seemed like forever. All the stress and pain she had accumulated in the time she had waited for Tenchi flowed away like the receding tides that the typhoon took with its passing. Even though he made no other advance on her person, it was enough to rejuvenate Ryoko's ebbing confidence in her future with Tenchi.

Tenchi reveled in how wonderful he felt to finally release the restraints on his feelings. All at once, he realized he had been missing out on something very special for too long. None of the reasons why he had denied himself this feeling for so long seemed to make sense anymore. All he could think of was the profound desire this wonderful woman made him feel. He wanted to hold her, cherish her, protect her, and ravish her all at the same time. Only a little bug in the back of his mind kept him in line. It spoke to him, saying "Take it easy! Don't push. One step at a time."

Understanding the importance of what his conscience was telling him, Tenchi slowly backed away from where ever it was he had been heading. He smiled in unison with Ryoko as they heard their respective consciences tell them they had performed both admirably, and properly. They laughed, and the Gods laughed with them.

Tenchi opened his eyes, and realized the additional laughter he heard was not due to the gods, but rather, due to the short redhead sitting on the other side of the fire-pit with a video camera pointed at them.

"Please. Don't mind me." Washu giggled again. "You are so cute!"

Then Tenchi heard a deep growl begin to rumble within Ryoko's throat. She suddenly turned over and swiped at the video camera. Washu leaned back, narrowly avoiding Ryoko's angry assault.

"You bitch! You ruined my moment with Tenchi!"

"I did not! I waited until you were done."

The camera suddenly jumped out of her hand. She had barely seen what had happened. But now she could easily see Tenchi holding the camera high above his head, with a look of anger on his face. His eyes focused on the largest of the rocks in the fireplace, then his body tensed. Washu shied back, expecting an explosion of plastic, but none came. When she regained the courage to open her eyes, she saw that Tenchi no longer appeared angry. He lowered the camera and looked at her, anger smoldering in his eyes.

"Washu, that is the rudest thing anyone has ever done to me. Don't ever do that again. Not to me, and not ever to Ryoko."

Washu actually shivered at the iron in Tenchi's voice. He left not a shred of doubt in her mind what the penalty would be if she disobeyed. Recalling the video she had made of Ryoko following her assimilation with Zero, she made a mental note to destroy that tape and all nine hundred and ninety nine copies she had made as soon as she got back to her lab. However, it would be unseemly if she let on that he had actually gotten to her with his words.

"Sorry. I was just documenting my daughter's development in sex, uh, I mean, life. It's important to keep tabs on your child's development." Washu wagged a finger in the air as if she were giving sage advice, rather than an excuse. "You'll understand that some day when you have children of your own."

Tenchi just glared at her.

"You sure took your sweet time!" Ryoko complained, breaking in on their confrontation.

"It may seem that way to you. But, back home it's only been three hours."

"Three hours?"

"Yup. And I can think of a certain princess who's going to be very disappointed."

"That's... my problem." Tenchi sighed in resignation. He knew now that, although it had not been a conscious decision, he had chosen. While the rewards would be great, so would the penalties. "I'll just have to talk to Aeka." He looked at Washu again. "Please, don't tell her anything."

"Hell, no, I won't tell her! You think I'm nuts? She'd tear me apart just for suggesting it. If you want to commit suicide, that's up to you."

"Gee, thanks."

"And you!" Washu pointed at Ryoko. "You and me have to have a long talk, little girl."

"Oh, please. Don't even. I already know all about the birds and the bees, not that it means anything to -- ah!" Ryoko suddenly remembered a short discussion with Washu a few weeks ago on that very topic.

"Mmm-hmm. So you do remember. Well, here's one more meatball for the table. Time in this dimension flows three hundred times faster than in Okayama. So, while it seemed like five weeks here, it was only three hours there."

Tenchi fixed Washu with a worried stare.

"So, when we go back, it'll only be three hours after we left?"

"You got it."

Tenchi cast a nervous glance towards Ryoko. It took Washu a couple of seconds to realize Tenchi had not yet informed her of his decision to attend the Galaxy Academy.

"Well, it looks like you two have some things to sort out, so..." Washu stood up. "I'll wait for you back in my lab."

Ryoko leapt after her.

"Wait! How do we get back?"

"Through the glowing green square."

"Washu!" Ryoko gave chase across the ocean-scoured sand until Washu disappeared through the afore mentioned glowing green square.

"Damn it! Not even so much as a "Sorry for losing you for a month." She rubbed her head in consternation before turning back to Tenchi. Right away she noticed how he was just sitting there, looking into the fire-pit. She quickly floated back to his side.

"Don't look so sad! You wanted to go back, right?"

"Yeah. It's just..." he took a deep breath before continuing, "...there's something I haven't told you."

Ryoko paid rapt attention as she sat down next to Tenchi.

"What?"

"I didn't think it mattered anymore because of how long we were here. But, now that Washu says it was only three hours, I still have to go."

"Go?"

"Ryoko, I'm going to the Galaxy Academy. I was going to tell you. But, when I thought I had missed the arrival date, I didn't think it mattered any more. So, I didn't say anything. I... was afraid you'd be mad at me. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner."

Meekly, Tenchi looked sidelong at Ryoko. Now she was staring into the half-dead fire-pit as well.

"I want to go to college, Ryoko. I want to be somebody, not a farmer. It doesn't mean I don't like you! I..." Tenchi hung his head. "I'm sorry."

Despite the fact that he could not see Ryoko's face through the long strands of hair that hung down around her face, he could still hear her voice as she quietly spoke.

"Don't go."

It took Tenchi a couple of seconds to come up with a suitable response.

"This is something I have to do. I know it sounds weird, but, I want to see some of the things that must be out there. I never imagined that there was a whole civilization out there, waiting to be discovered. I know that doesn't really sound like me, but it's true. I want to see it."

"I'll take you, then. Anywhere you want."

"Ryoko..."

Suddenly, Ryoko whirled to face him. She grabbed him by the shirt and gave him a good shake.

"You're not leaving me, again! You're not! You can't do this to me! Not again." Her grip slackened and her head hung almost to the ground.

"Don't leave me." Ryoko slipped right down into his lap. "Please, don't leave me again."

Tenchi felt warm tears dribbling down the side of his leg. He placed his right hand on the back of her head and gently stroked her neck to comfort her.

"I'll be back for vacations. And, we can write to each other."

"It's not the same." She complained through her tears.

"Ryoko, I have to do this for myself. For almost three years, I've been living for everyone else. I need this. I need to know who I am."

Ryoko suddenly sat up again. She looked him right in the eyes and yelled at him.

"You're Tenchi Masaki, you block-head!" Ryoko took a deep, tremulous breath before speaking again. "You're my Tenchi. Isn't that enough?"

Feeling unspeakably low and undeserving of so much love from such a person, Tenchi carefully wiped the tear streaks from Ryoko's face. As he gazed into her eyes, he noticed something was different.

"You're eyes... they've changed."

Tenchi's observation caught Ryoko off guard. She had actually forgotten for a while that one of the changes she had made to her new body was to have circular pupils, rather than the cat-like orifices that made her so alien to others. Her pain forgotten for the moment, Ryoko asked the only thing that made any sense for her right now.

"Do you like my eyes?"

"You have pretty eyes."

By some unspoken mutual agreement, they leaned forward and kissed again. Ryoko's passion flared brightly. She suddenly climbed right into Tenchi's lap, causing him to lose his balance and fall back onto the sand. Ryoko did not give him a chance to recover. She climbed on top of him and kissed him hungrily, devouring his affection.

For a moment, Tenchi thought Ryoko would try to move too quickly, as she had so many times before. But, she only laid atop his chest, kissing his lips, and holding him tightly. As he relaxed, he found he enjoyed kissing Ryoko a great deal.

Tenchi stood before the glowing green square. He and Ryoko were decently attired, once more. That choice had been easy enough. The choice of whether or not to return hand in hand was not so easy. There were many possibilities for the immediate future. If they returned as they stood right now, everyone would notice and there would definitely be a scene. Tenchi no longer wished to deny the feelings he knew he had for Ryoko. But, he also knew Aeka would be the first to suffer the consequences. He agonized over what to do until Ryoko broke in on his contemplation.

"Aeka will be there, waiting." Ryoko could see Tenchi was having trouble deciding what to do next. "It really doesn't matter to me what she thinks about us. But, I guess it matters to you."

"I don't want Aeka to think I don't care about her." Tenchi explained. "If we just waltz in and say we're together, either there'll be a fight, or she'll run away crying. I'm not sure which would be worse."

Ryoko pouted, unsure of what to do. She knew Tenchi harbored some feelings for Aeka, especially with everything that had been happening lately. Dealing with this kind of situation was something she had no experience with.

"Ryoko, would you mind if I talked to Aeka first about this? I think it's best if she hears it from me."

Ryoko's hand drifted upwards from Tenchi's hand to his neck. She moved in front of him and wrapped her other arm around his neck as well.

"All right. But you have to pay a penalty."

"Uhh..." Tenchi looked into Ryoko's twinkling eyes. "What kind of penalty?"

"You have to kiss me."

Tenchi relaxed. He had been wondering what Ryoko had in mind. He gently slipped his arms around her waist.

"Such a harsh penalty." He sarcastically responded as he leaned forward to comply.

"Isn't it?" Ryoko's eyes slid shut as Tenchi paid the price for her permission to be alone with Aeka for a short time. She hungrily devoured his attention and demanded more by firmly holding his head close to hers. Letting her feelings run amok, Ryoko felt her body blooming with passion. She was only moments away from trying something more meaningful when Tenchi pulled away.

"Is the offering acceptable?" He teased.

Ryoko let her head rest against his shoulder.

"I want more."

"That's the best I can do, for now."

It was not what Ryoko wanted to hear. She could feel her entire being calling out to Tenchi to become one with her. Within his arms, she could feel the entire universe.

"I want you." She tightened her grip and pressed herself against Tenchi's body. He embraced her tightly letting her know he wanted her near, without giving her the idea he was consenting to her desire.

"Tenchi," she whispered in his ear, "make love to me."

Tenchi sighed.

"Ryoko..."

"We can do it right now. No one will know. Washu said time flows faster here. We can even take our time! Tenchi..." Ryoko took two fistfuls of his shirt. "Tenchi, please. I... I need you."

Tenchi could feel her literally shaking against his chest, her need for him was so great. He held the shuddering girl close, giving her as much feeling as he could muster.

"I love you so much." Ryoko sniffled back a loose tear.

"I know." Tenchi assured her he was aware of her feelings. "I know you do."

Ryoko's iron grip on his shirt gradually relaxed as her feelings came under better control.

"Tenchi, you'd better not leave without making love to me."

Tenchi idly wondered what Ryoko would do if he did not give her what she wanted. When the image of an ultra-powerful energy wave speeding across the face of the Earth came to mind, he decided he would give the matter more serious thought.

Tenchi and Ryoko emerged from the portal separately, ladies first. As expected, the others were waiting. They immediately crowded around him and Ryoko, demanding to know if he was all right.

"I'm fine. We're both fine. Everything's fine."

Ryoko seemed miffed that everyone was paying attention to Tenchi and ignoring her. She glared at them.

"Hey! What about me?"

Aeka was the only one who deigned to answer her.

"What about you?"

Returning her attention to Tenchi she fawned over him, concern running deeply in her soft voice.

"Lord Tenchi, are you certain you are well? Only a few hours ago, you seemed to be in great pain."

"Uh, well... It went away pretty quickly."

"Ah! I see." Aeka sent a grateful look to Washu. "Thank you, Little Washu for healing Lord Tenchi's wound. I was beside myself with worry."

"Uh... sure."

Tenchi looked at her as if he disapproved. Washu held her hands up and shrugged, as if to say "What?" Aeka quickly returned her attention to Tenchi.

"Lord Tenchi, you've been awake for most of the night. You should get some rest."

Actually, Tenchi was wide awake. He had just slept for an entire night and wanted nothing more than to walk around and stretch his limbs.

"Actually, I'm not really tired anymore. But, I wouldn't mind having someone to talk with for a little while before breakfast."

All was suddenly very quite. The only noise was from Washu's various contraptions, and a soft snoring from Sasami and Mihoshi as they slept standing up against Tenchi's chest. A wet spot was beginning to form where Mihoshi was drooling against his shirt. He looked at them in surprise, then chuckled aloud.

"Heh heh. Um, would somebody mind?"

His Grandfather was the first to volunteer.

"I believe I can be of some assistance." Katsuhito arrived at his grandson's side and easily scooped up his younger sister into his arms.

"Miss Ryoko, would you be so kind as to relieve Tenchi of his burden?"

Ryoko looked at Katsuhito with astonishment and pleasure.

"You want me to get rid of Aeka?"

"Who are you calling a burden, you parasite!"

Ryoko laughed.

"Ha hah! Relax, Princess! I'm just yanking your chain! Go have you little talk with Tenchi. Enjoy yourself." She took hold of Mihoshi and trussed her over a shoulder. Drool began to run down the other side of Mihoshi's face as Ryoko made her way to the lift.

"Come on, Grandpa. You're holdin' up the works."

"I may be old, but I'm not blind just yet."

Just as Katsuhito was entering the lift, Ryoko met Aeka's gaze. She could see that Aeka had no idea what was about to befall her.

"Aeka?"

"What now, Miss Ryoko?"

"Nothing personal."

Aeka failed to comprehend the meaning of Ryoko's statement. But before she could inquire further, the lift platform shot into the darkness above, taking it's passengers from sight.

"Now what do you suppose that meant?"

Tenchi remained conspicuously silent as another platform took the place of the first. He said nothing until they boarded the lift.

"There's something we have to talk about."

Looking at Tenchi, Aeka could see that he did not seem very enthusiastic. Ryoko's comment began to make more sense. Sensing the demise of all hope, she mentally prepared herself for the worst.

Tenchi climbed the ladder he had installed on the balcony up to the roof. As expected, Ryoko was there. She sat on the edge, behind the false chimney she had made, with her legs dangling off the edge. Tenchi carefully made his way across the roof and sat next to her. She snuggled into the crook of his arm and chest as his arm found it's way around her shoulders.

"Did you talk to Aeka?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"I'll bet she was pissed."

"Well... no."

"Really?"

"Hmm. She was pretty upset. But, she took it better than I thought she would. I still feel bad, though."

There was a long pause while neither spoke. They simply sat together, looking at the golden sunrise.

"You're really going to leave, aren't you?"

"I'm sorry. But, I really want to do this. It's my chance to do something meaningful with my life. Until recently, I had no idea what I wanted to do with myself. I was just a teenager, waiting for the next school vacation. Going to the Academy is an opportunity to find out what I want to do with the rest of my life."

"A person has to work and make money, so that they can do the things they want. Sure, I could stay here and work at some fast-food place or something like that and make enough money to survive. But what kind of life would that be? I've seen people that live that way. They don't look happy. I know I can do better than that. Besides, I don't think you would be happy living like that."

Ryoko looked at Tenchi in surprise and anticipation. His lips curled into a wry grin.

"Neither would Aeka, now that I think about it. She'd go insane living in one of those little apartments in the city."

Ryoko almost fell off the roof. She grabbed hold of the chimney for support and pointed a finger in Tenchi's face. Her cheeks puffed out in mock indignation.

"You... you..."

Tenchi smiled at her.

"Is there something wrong?"

"You," she paused for effect, "have been very bad lately."

"Is that so?" Tenchi looked up as if he had no idea what she was talking about.

Ryoko quickly warmed to Tenchi's mild-mannered play.

"You'll have to pay for that."

He closed one eye and grumbled.

"Again?"

"Yes, Tenchi. Again."

Tenchi the Villain sighed as if his lot in life was insurmountable.

"What did I do to deserve such an unjust punishment?"

"I think it's very fair." Ryoko informed him.

"Can I plea bargain?" Tenchi offered his judge.

"Mmm, what do you have in mind?" Ryoko curiously asked.

"How about a date?"

"Really?" Ryoko smiled brightly, very happy with Tenchi's offer.

"Yes. If you want."

"Hell, yeah, I want! When?"

"How about this afternoon?"

"You got it! Ah! But, Tenchi," Ryoko slyly added in a small condition, "It's expensive to take me out on a date. There's a price you have to pay before I'll even step out the door."

"Gee, I wonder what that is?" Tenchi scratched the back of his head.

"Tenchi..." Ryoko reached behind his neck with her right hand and pulled his mouth to hers. Tenchi paid the price for the date he had just made, and then some when Ryoko stuck her tongue in his mouth. He hesitated for a moment while he considered if he liked it. The results came back positive, so he gently touched his tongue to hers. He carefully moved his free hand to Ryoko's waist, where it felt completely natural for it to be. They remained stuck together for several minutes while they gained a greater understanding of each other.

END INTERLUDE.

AFTERWORD: Just when it looks like Tenchi has chosen who he wants to be with, he runs off to the Academy. How do you think the girls are going to handle this? Tenchi's grand journey begins in Volume 3.


	17. Eyes for the Stars

****

INVASION: Volume 3, Part 1: Eyes for the Stars.

DISCLAIMER: TENCHI MUYOU! is copyright AIC/Pioneer, LDC. I claim no rights to it or the characters. However, the events depicted within this story are entirely of my own imagination. Please do not change them!

FOREWORD: Volumes 3 and 4 deal with why I have entitled this fic INVASION. Some things will change; Sasami growing into a teenager, and other things will stay the same; everybody loves Tenchi. I hope I surprise you with the plot twists!

AUTHOR: Dreamr

LAST REVISION: 18 September 2002

EMAIL: TrueDreamr@Hotmail.com

BEGIN.

Tenchi sat on the edge of his bed. His elbows were propped on his knees and his head rested in his upraised hands. It was nearly time to go. Well, sort of. If he did not go to sleep soon he would regret it in the morning. Still, he could not bring himself to do so. He felt like there was something left undone.

Of course, Tenchi had a good idea what it was. He and Ryoko had gotten very close during their stay on the tropical island. Even though nothing serious had actually happened, they had gotten some important issues resolved between them. Thinking he no longer had any obligation to leave for the Galaxy Academy due to the extensive length of their accidental island vacation, Tenchi had allowed his feelings for Ryoko to develop into something he could no longer say was just friendship.

After they returned, matters had taken their natural course between them. Again, nothing major happened. If they happened to find themselves alone, they spent the time simply being close to one another. That was enough. But now, Tenchi was becoming more aware of his own imminent departure, and the things that were as yet undone.

When he had asked Ryoko to meet him at noon for a picnic lunch, she had jumped at the chance. But their date was foiled when Sasami caught them making preparations in the kitchen. She offered to make a really great lunch if they could all go. He had agonized for several seconds, trying to decide. Finally, he looked at Ryoko, allowing her to make the choice. Much to his surprise, she had agreed. So, they spent the afternoon together as a family.

Now, Tenchi agonized over what to do. There was something he needed to do or say. But there just was not any more time. On top of it, he did not know what he really wanted. He knew he did not want to just get into bed with Ryoko. He was not like that. The idea itself was not so far fetched any more, but that was not it.

Tenchi suddenly stood, intending to go see Ryoko right that moment and talk to her.

_"Dammit, what do I talk about?"_ Tenchi scrubbed his scalp with both hands, frustrated at his own indecisiveness.

_"Err! This isn't fair! I want to talk to Ryoko. I want to see her. But what if she wants to do more than talk? I wouldn't blame her. This is our last night together. Could I even do that with her?"_ Tenchi felt his heart pounding with anxiety.

"I need air."

Tenchi went to his balcony and yanked open the drapes. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw an emerald-haired demon trying to claw it's way through the glass. When the demon raised it's head, Tenchi realized a trick of the late evening light had made him mistake Ryoko for a demon. Her golden eyes shone from behind the strands of hair hanging in front of her face. Tenchi quickly opened the door.

"Hey." Ryoko announced herself with a slight smile.

"Hey, yourself." Tenchi greeted her back.

"Can I come in?" Ryoko asked.

"Of course you can." Tenchi stood aside as Ryoko walked into his room, this time with his permission. It was the first time she had actually asked for permission to enter. He watched silently as Ryoko carefully made her way between the bags and suitcases that littered his floor space. When Washu had told him he could bring anything he wanted, Tenchi had decided to pack anything he could possibly need. It was better to have something he did not need, than to need something he did not have. Ryoko broke the silence as she solumnly ran her hands over his belongings.

"So, you're really leaving."

"I'm sorry."

Ryoko turned and looked at him in surprise.

"What for?"

"For not, um... for making you think, uh..." He took a deep breath to steady himself. "I'm sorry for breaking your heart again." Tenchi was about to get down on all fours and beg forgiveness, when Ryoko reappeared in front of him. With a loving smile, she encircled his neck with her arms.

"Who said my heart was broken? I'll break their face for spreading rumors about me."

Tenchi visibly relaxed when he realized Ryoko was not upset.

"You're not mad at me?"

"Nah."

Tenchi's eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"Are you sure?"

Ryoko's smile grew wider.

"Well, maybe just a little. But I thought about it and I realized I was being kind of dumb. It's boring to live life just sitting on your butt all the time."

Ryoko let go of Tenchi and spun around in a circle.

"I like a challenge, too!"

She promptly ran into a large suitcase and tripped.

"Waah!" Her rear-end made a thump sound when she hit the ground.

"Who put all these damn bags in my way?!"

Tenchi chuckled just a bit as he moved forward to help her up.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to laugh at you."

"Oh, you think it's funny? Let's see how you like it, monkey-boy!"

Ryoko launched herself at Tenchi, expecting he would duck out of the way, like he had so many times before. He caught her as she struck his shoulders. They fell backwards together, with Ryoko landing on top. The extra weight on Tenchi's chest made him wince when they hit the ground. But he was willing to accept the slight pain without question.

"What'd you do that for?" Ryoko asked, looking him over for damage. "You could've gotten hurt!"

Tenchi smiled up at her.

"I can take it. Besides, I know you wouldn't hurt me." Tenchi slid his arms around Ryoko's waist to show her he both trusted and accepted her. For a moment, Ryoko just looked at him. Then she leaned forward and kissed him. They stayed like that for several minutes. Tenchi had long since learned the trick of breathing through his nose while kissing and could now easily keep up with Ryoko in the tonsil hockey arena.

As Ryoko relaxed, she laid her body fully on top of Tenchi's. He held her tightly around the waist as her weight settled atop him. They reveled in the feelings they evoked from within one another as they expressed their interest more fully through physical contact than they could with mere words.

Eventually, the kiss ended. Their mouth-to-mouth contact gradually lightened, then finally ended. Ryoko drew her legs under herself and straddled Tenchi's hips. She sat upright, running her hands through her long, cyan hair. Tenchi watched Ryoko's face as she teased him with a display of her physical attributes. Her eyes stayed locked with his as they watched each other. Tenchi realized Ryoko's unusual eyes and hair color no longer seemed to bother him. No longer was her appearance strange. Now it made her special. No one on the entire planet had a girlfriend like her. It was oddly satisfying to know that a woman who could very well be the most beautiful woman on Earth, wanted to be with him.

Ryoko ended her display. Her hands settled on Tenchi's stomach, casually picking at one of the buttons on his shirt.

"Tenchi?"

"Yes, Ryoko?"

"Do you like looking at me?"

Tenchi's satisfied grin turned into a smile. Ryoko frequently asked him such questions. He was more careful in how he answered these days. If the answer were negative, he would carefully explain what was wrong. It had taken a while to learn Ryoko appreciated honesty in his responses as much as he did in hers. Tenchi knew he would be lying if he said 'no' to her question.

"Yes."

"Would you like to see more?"

Tenchi sighed as he began to comprehend where this line of questioning was going.

"Ryoko, you don't have to display yourself for me."

Ryoko's smile began to waver.

"I already know you're attractive." Tenchi carefully observed Ryoko's facial expressions as he explained his answer. "You don't have to take your cloths off to get my attention."

"That's nice to know. But that's not why I want to take my clothes off."

"Then why?" Tenchi asked.

"Because, I want you to look at me, not my clothes."

It made sense to Tenchi, in an odd Ryoko-type of way. As he contemplated this new bit of information, Tenchi felt something brush against his bare stomach. He looked up and saw that Ryoko had managed to unfasten the button she had been picking at while they talked. It was her fingers he felt brushing his skin.

Tenchi thought about it for a moment, then decided he did not mind. His usual response would be to gently remove her hand from inside his clothing. This time, when he raised his hand to Ryoko's, he let it rest on hers. Tenchi let his head sink back to the floor.

"I'll miss you." He told Ryoko plainly as she began to work another button. Her hands stopped moving at his words.

"Tenchi..." Ryoko bent forward and kissed him again. Her hands went from Tenchi's stomach to his chest where they lay at the base of his neck.

They kissed greedily, trying to get the most out of the short time remaining to them. Ryoko's hands began running around the base of Tenchi's neck, pushing aside his shirt collar. Her fingers found the top button on his shirt and pulled it from it's loop. Tenchi ran his hands up and down Ryoko's back, encouraging her to continue.

The belt Ryoko wore wrapped around her midsection was starting to annoy Tenchi. Every time he moved his hands to Ryoko's lower back or waist, it felt like it was in the way. There was no way she could possibly feel what he was doing with that belt on. Tenchi decided it had to go. He moved his hands around to Ryoko's front where he had seen a buckle. There was little space to work at first, but Ryoko felt him move his hands, so she sat up a little straighter so he could get at it.

Through careful exploration, Tenchi found the buckle was not actually a buckle, but a clasp. It was attached at only one end and held in place by claws on the back that dug into the cloth material behind it. He had always thought it was leather. Tugging just a bit pulled the claws from the material, allowing him to begin unwrapping the long belt.

Ryoko made quick work of Tenchi's shirt buttons. Once they were all undone, she pulled his shirt open. Her mouth began to wander from his. She kissed a trail down his neck and began paying a great deal of attention to his chest.

Tenchi found that as Ryoko moved further down, he could no longer reach her waist. The belt hung loose about her, but he could not remove it now. He felt disappointed that his favorite place to touch her was now inaccessible. Instead, he placed his hands on the back of Ryoko's head and neck. Though her hair was very rigid, it was also very soft. It felt as smooth as ice, but without the coldness. He ran his fingers through it, similar to the way Ryoko had done for herself. Tenchi's fingers encountered Ryoko's ears, and ran around the edges of them. She smiled against his stomach.

"That tickles." Ryoko stopped kissing Tenchi's firm abs long enough to shake her head, ridding herself of the distracting sensation so that she could continue uninterrupted.

Tenchi smiled as well as he moved his hands to her upper arms. He squeezed gently at Ryoko's triceps, showing her how much he liked what she was doing. When he felt Ryoko's fingers trace around the waist band of his pants, he realized something serious was very likely to occur this evening.

Tenchi thought carefully about his feelings for Ryoko while she directed her attention at his stomach. It was so obvious now that Ryoko loved him with all her heart. Knowing that she felt that way for him, alone, gave him a warm feeling that never went away. They had fought together. They had killed for one another. They had both almost died for each other.

Feeling Ryoko's fingers beginning to slip a little between his waist and pants, Tenchi decided he had better concentrate on the heart of the matter. He really had only one question to ask that would answer all the other questions. Before he could go any further, Tenchi needed to decide if he loved Ryoko. As she touched and kissed him, Tenchi found it was very difficult to address such an important question when a girl was trying to get into his pants. Tenchi took hold of Ryoko's hands and gently pulled them from his waist.

"Ryoko, could you hold on for a minute?"

Ryoko looked up at him.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No. You're doing everything right." He looked fondly into Ryoko's eyes.

"You're not ready, are you?" Ryoko surmised, looking back in disappointment. She sat upright again, this time right on top of his knees.

"Ow." Tenchi grimaced. "Not there."

Ryoko quickly got off his knees and sat on the floor instead, holding herself up on one locked arm. She looked away, not wanting Tenchi to see how disappointed she felt.

Tenchi sat up. He felt bad for upsetting Ryoko, but he had to decide right now. If he did not, it would be much worse if he stopped her when she was less inclined to listen to reason. Tenchi looked down and closed his eyes, searching for the answer within himself. As he contemplated his feelings, he felt Ryoko's lips press against his for a moment.

"I love you."

Warmth quickly spread throughout Tenchi's heart. He smiled at the wonderful feelings Ryoko's honest admission gave him. It suddenly occurred to him that there was nothing more anyone could do for another person than to share those feelings with someone special. He knew now why Ryoko was always coming on to him. She wanted to share this warm feeling with him. At that moment, he had his answer.

Tenchi reached up and placed a hand on Ryoko's face. He closed the distance between them and kissed her just the way she had done to him a moment ago.

"I..." His throat closed up on him. Taking a deep breath, Tenchi tried to relax. He looked at Ryoko and saw she was smiling. He realized she already knew he loved her. He still had to say it for his own peace of mind. Knowing they felt the same made it easier.

"I... love you, too."

Ryoko inhaled deeply as she basked in the warmth of Tenchi's words. It made her heart soar to hear Tenchi say that he loved her. Standing up, she let the breath out slowly, savoring each moment. As she got to her feet, the belt that Tenchi had already started on began to unravel. It slipped off like a coiled rope until the length of it lay on the floor at her feet. Her dress hung partially open from the waist down.

Tenchi watched from the floor as Ryoko began to unfasten the small loops that held her dress about her torso from the neck down. As her hands slowly made their way down her front, Tenchi got an idea. He stood up.

Ryoko slowed, wondering if her assumption that Tenchi wanted to be with her tonight was incorrect. She watched him as he carefully made his way through the bags towards the door.

"Tenchi?"

When Tenchi arrived in front of his bedroom door, he stopped and turned to her. Ryoko held her dress to her chest as the open neck slipped down, exposing her shoulders. Unerringly, his hand found the light switch.

Click.

"Well, I guess this is it." Tenchi looked from person to person, engraving their faces in his mind. The entire family was assembled this clear, blue morning, in front of the house to see him off. Tenchi said his good-byes to each of them in turn. As expected, Mihoshi was already in tears. She was always emotional.

"Tenchi, I'll sniff really sniff miss you. WAAH!" She burst out crying.

"Ah, hey, don't cry, Mihoshi. I'll be back at the end of the semester for a couple of weeks."

Mihoshi turned to the nearest person who happened to be handy. Nobuyuki beamed as the pretty blonde cried against his shoulder. Katsuhito whispered into his opposite ear.

"Down, boy."

Tenchi turned his attention to Aeka and Sasami, who stood side by side. He was constantly amazed at how fast Sasami was growing. She now stood only half a head shorter than her sister. When they had met, she was barely to Tenchi's chest. She had grown so much since she and her sister had arrived almost three years ago. Standing there with a basket in hand, she looked like a young lady out on a picnic.

"Goodbye, Sasami. I'll miss your cooking."

Sasami managed a smile through her teary eyes and held the basket out to Tenchi.

"I made your lunch."

"Thanks." Tenchi took the basket with a smile and set it alongside the myriad of other bags and cases he had assembled. When he turned back to say goodbye to Aeka, Sasami suddenly wrapped her arms over his shoulders and hugged him.

"Tenchi, I...", she took a shaky breath, "I'll miss you."

"Sasami!" Aeka protested. "Is that how a lady behaves?"

Sasami released her hold on Tenchi and stepped back to her place.

"I'm a lady and that's how I behave, so, yes, it is." Sasami boldly announced. There was a couple guffaws from the background.

"Sasami!" Aeka objected in shock.

"Aeka," Tenchi interrupted before it got any worse. "it's okay."

"But, Lord Tenchi..." Aeka stopped when she noticed how Tenchi was looking into her eyes. She blushed a bit at his unwavering attention. Embarrassed, she immediately launched into her preplanned goodbye speech.

"I would like to wish you well on your journey, Lord Tenchi, and convey my most humble gratitude for allowing my sister and I to stay in your home while we have remained on Earth. If, ever you are in the vicinity of Jurai, please do not hesitate to call on the Royal Family. You are always welcome in our home." Aeka concluded by bowing deeply.

Tenchi waited until Aeka righted herself before speaking again.

"I'm sorry, Aeka. I guess... things didn't work out the way you were hoping for."

Aeka's eyes widened as she listened to Tenchi publicly address her feelings for him.

"Um... I... understand." she took a breath before continuing. "Even in the Royal Family we must maintain the legal standards. Though my brother and I were engaged at an early age, we were not to be married until my eighteenth birthday. Ryoko attacked Jurai before then, so the wedding was not able to take place."

Tenchi eyed Aeka as she spoke of weddings and legalities.

"It would have been... inappropriate... for one so young."

"Inappropriate, my ass." Ryoko's voice suddenly spoke from behind Tenchi. The spiky-haired pirate materialized a moment later, with a large duffel bag slung over her shoulder. "Don't try to hide it, Princess. You wanted Tenchi from day one."

"Shut your mouth, you disgusting creature!" Aeka yelled, thoroughly embarrassed Ryoko had revealed her excuse for the fallacy that it was. "And what is that bag you have with you? Don't for a moment think you'll be accompanying Lord Tenchi. I won't allow it."

Ryoko smiled evilly.

"Now that you mention it, Tenchi did ask me to give him a lift to the Academy. But here's the real kicker." Whipping out a set of papers, Ryoko brandished them as if they were the deed and title to the Royal Palace of Jurai.

"I'm going to the Academy, too!"

"Immpossible! Let me see that!" Aeka reached out and snatched the papers from Ryoko's hand. Tenchi also looked at Ryoko in surprise.

"But didn't you miss the deadline?"

Washu began her explanation, speaking from Tenchi's left side.

"That's true. But you've all forgotten that I used to be the Head-Master of the Galaxy Academy, so I know all the rules and associated loopholes."

Quoting from the official application rules, Washu explained how she had gotten Ryoko into the Academy at such a late date.

"'Any sitting department head, member of the Board of Trustees, or Head-Master, may sponsor a student at any time, not to exceed one student per enrollment period.'"

"No... this can't be true!" Aeka shredded the papers in less than a second. "I refuse to accept this! Ryoko could never be a student at the Galaxy Academy! It is a place of learning, not debauchery! Ah! Just a moment. Washu, you said a sitting member or Head-master. You are neither."

"Actually, when Kagato captured me, I was on sabbatical from my position as Head-master. I just called-up the current Head-master and told him I was ready to come back."

"Sorry, Princess." Ryoko teased her. "You lose."

"Ryoko." Tenchi admonished her for teasing Aeka that way.

"This is not acceptable. Lord Tenchi is going to the Academy to become a better person." Aeka extended a finger and pointed it directly at Ryoko. "Having HER there will ruin it for him!"

Tenchi finally decided to speak up. He was usually unwilling to get involved in Aeka and Ryoko's arguments, but this was important. He felt it was a great idea for Ryoko to get out and experience life more. That they would be together was an added bonus.

"Aeka, it's okay. I don't mind if Ryoko comes along. Actually, I think it's a good idea." He directed his next statement solely at Ryoko, along with a stern look. "I just wish she had told me about it earlier."

Ryoko quickly looked away, whistling.

"That is not the point, Lord Tenchi!" Aeka continued to rant. "When my brother went to the A-!" She suddenly stopped in mid-sentence.

Near the back of the crowd, Tenchi's grandfather started to slowly and quietly back away.

"Dearest Brother." Aeka sweetly addressed her elder sibling.

"D'oh!" Katsuhito cringed.

"As I recall, when you initially left to attend the Academy, you left very late. If I remember correctly, it was in the middle of the spring semester and you were only the age of sixteen. How was this accomplished?"

"Ahhh, well, that's kind of a long story."

"Then make it snappy."

"Father sponsored me."

"I see. Little Washu, may I use your phone?"

Washu could see where this was going. She carefully stole a look at Ryoko to see her daughter's reaction to this development. Ryoko's lips peeled back, exposing her fangs.

"Uh, sorry, Aeka. I already disconnected the door to my lab. It's just a broom closet again."

Ryoko smiled again.

"Oh, that's too bad. You can't call mommy and daddy for help anymore."

"On the contrary. Father insisted on a private hyper-communications line being accessible from this location should there ever be a need. I do believe this qualifies."

Sasami looked up at her sister.

"Hey, Aeka. Are you going to the Academy, too?"

"I do believe I am." She answered, turning back to the house.

"Can I go with you?" Sasami asked as she followed.

"We shall see. Perhaps Mother can sponsor you."

"Well, how do like that?" Ryoko wondered. "Come on, Washu! You're the Head-master, do something!"

"Sorry. It's a courtesy extended to the royal family of Jurai in recognition of the Academy's former affiliation with Jurai. Until I came along, it was the Royal Academy, not the Galaxy Academy."

"Yay!" Mihoshi cried, no longer upset. "Let's all go to the Academy together!"

"Hello! Mihoshi!" Ryoko called to Mihoshi. "You have a job, remember? Does GP sound familiar?"

As she realized she could not go with the others, Mihoshi fell to her knees.

"But...sniffle, sniffle WAAH!"

Tears poured out of her eyes in great torrents, soaking everything around her, including Nobuyuki's trouser legs. He leapt back, then held his left leg off the ground and shook it, trying to shake off the wetness.

"My good slacks!"

Tenchi approached Mihoshi from the safer front approach and knelt on one knee in front of her.

"Don't cry, Mihoshi. It'll be all right. I promise, we'll come back for vacations, and you can come visit any time you want."

Ryoko's grumbling could just barely be heard in the background.

"Invite the whole family, why don't you?"

Mihoshi managed to rein in her over-emotional crying enough that she could talk intelligibly.

"SniffI can?"

"Sure."

Tenchi showed her a bright smile as he stood up, hoping to cheer her. He held out a hand to assist in rising.

"You'll be okay here with Dad and Grandpa, won't you?"

Mihoshi meekly accepted his offer of assistance. Pulling on his hand, she actually managed to get to her feet without pulling Tenchi down on his face.

"I guess."

Tenchi gave his father and grandfather both stern looks.

"She will be okay here with you two, right?"

Nobuyuki set his leg down and smiled.

"Of course, she will, Tenchi. We'll take very good care of her."

Tenchi gave him the evil eye.

"That's what I'm afraid of."

Katsuhito carefully adjusted his spectacles.

"Rest easy, Tenchi. I've already child-proofed the cupboards."

"Grandpa!"

A small grin tugged at the corners of Katsuhito's mouth.

"Heh. Miss Mihoshi is welcome to stay for as long as she likes."

Mihoshi turned to the elder Masaki.

"Well, that's very kind of you."

Growing tired (or perhaps embarrassed) of all the farewells and well-wishing, Ryoko decided to give the proceedings a kick-start.

"Well! If everyone's said their good-byes, let's be off!"

Tenchi gave Ryoko a knowing look.

"Aren't you forgetting someone?"

"No, I don't think so." She started ticking off names on her right fingers. "Me, you, Washu, oh! You're right! Can't go anywhere without Ryo-o-ki!"

Ryoko raised her left hand and attempted to command Ryo-o-ki to return to her.

"Come, Ryo-o-ki."

All was silent as a light summer breeze wafted between the assembled people. Tenchi crossed his arms over his chest.

"I meant Aeka and Sasami."

Confused, Ryoko held her wrist up to her face to see what the problem was.

"What up? Why isn't she... oh."

Just for a moment, she looked completely confounded. Then her eyes suddenly got very big and she smiled.

"That's it!"

"What?" Tenchi asked.

"That's how I can prove I was telling the truth! Jeez, I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier."

She started playing with the neck of her dress, undoing the top catch. Tenchi immediately objected.

"Hey! You can't do that out here!"

"Why not?"

Nobuyuki's eyes also got real big. He smiled and adjusted his glasses.

"Wish I had a camera."

Tenchi reached over and tried to keep Ryoko from opening her dress.

"Cut it out, Ryoko! We have to leave soon!"

Suddenly, Aeka's voice boomed across the yard. She had managed to get close to the group as they watched Ryoko's antics.

"Azaka! Kamidake! Get our things packed at once! We are leaving for the Academy, immediately!" She quickly directed her attention to the strange sight of Tenchi and Ryoko fighting over control of the neck of Ryoko's dress.

"What is the problem, now?"

They stopped messing around long enough to give her a pair of matching stares. Then Ryoko got a very mischievous look on her face.

"Why, Tenchi. You naughty boy. Right here in front of everybody?"

For a moment, Tenchi's gaze met hers. Then he quickly stepped away, relinquishing control of her dress.

"No, no!" He quickly turned back to Aeka, waving his hands frantically. "It's not what you think!"

She stared at him for a moment, then bowed her head in acknowledgement.

"I understand."

Tenchi looked at Aeka in surprise. This was definitely not the reaction he had been expecting.

"You do?"

Aeka's face came back in to view as she raised her head. Their gazes met, and after a moment, they came to a silent agreement. He would not flaunt his relationship with Ryoko, and she would not get in the way.

"Hey! Hey, everybody! Check this out!"

Everyone looked at Ryoko to see what she was so excited about. The neck of her dress was open, and she had her sleeves rolled up to her elbows.

"See anything different?"

Aeka was the first to answer.

"Of course not. You look as disgusting as ever."

"Shut up! I mean there's no more gems! See?" She waved her arms around, emphasizing their existence.

Mihoshi came over and began carefully examining her.

"Ohh. She's right! Did someone steal your gems, Ryoko?"

"No, flounder-head! I used them to make myself a new body. And everybody knows I'd never willingly let them go. So that proves I'm telling the truth."

Aeka had a very reasonable explanation for Ryoko's assertion.

"Either that or you're simply lying again."

"God damn it, Aeka! I'm not lying!"

Tenchi took a step between them.

"Does it really matter?"

The two girls looked at him in surprise.

"Does it make any difference whether or not Ryoko has her gems?"

Reluctantly, both girls shook their heads.

"I didn't think so."

All was silent for a moment as Tenchi took a last look at those he would be leaving behind, and those who would be going with him. He took a deep breath, savoring the sweet smell of home.

"Myaan?"

Tenchi looked down at the little creature sitting patiently by his foot and smiled.

"Let's go."

END.

AFTERWORD: Next stop, the Galaxy Academy!


	18. State of the Union

****

INVASION, Volume 3, Chapter 2: State of the Union.

DISCLAIMER: Tenchi Muyou! is copyright AIC/Pioneer, LDC. I claim no rights to it. However, the events in this story are entirely of my own imagination. So please don't change them. Feel free to distribute this story as freely as desired.

FOREWORD: In translating the True Tenchi Muyou! novels, I came across the correct spelling for that pink-haired guy in OAV episode 13. His name, romanized, is Serifu. Henceforth, that is how I will spell it. Just for kicks, here are some of the others whose names may be in question. Washiuu, Youshou, Ryouko, Ryououki, Aeka. Generally, I will still stick to the shorter, more recognized spellings. (It's quicker to type.)

I noticed that some of the reviews I got on the first chapter of this volume had questions. I think this chapter will answer many of those questions. If not, future installments definitely will. I'm hoping the story arc I'm pursuing will turn out to be fairly unique.

The first few chapters in this volume will deal more with Aeka and Sasami than any of the other characters. My apologies to all the Mihoshi fans out there. Her appearances will be precious few, and far between. I am making an attempt to work her in more, but it doesn't look like we'll see much of her in this volume. Sorry.

There was a section in this chapter where Tenchi, Nobuyuki, and Katsuhito go on a camping trip alone. I decided not to write that scene because the original idea was for a late-fall scene with an unexpectedly early snow storm. The seasonal requirements weren't right, so it got axed. Maybe in the future I'll do a one shot short-story of it.

Also, I apologize for taking so long getting this chapter out. There was a lot to write, and I wanted everything to be perfect. I felt like I rushed volume 2 a bit, and it really came out a bit different than I had hoped. This volume will be a bit slower to come out, but the result will be a better story.

One more small thing. It appears that the original plot for volume 3 is so long, that I may subdivide it into two volumes. That's a lot of writing. But the events that occur, beginning with the Galaxy Academy leading up to the "big battle" (heh-heh), are very in-depth and extensive. It all depends on how much material I have for what would be volume 4.

AUTHOR: Dreamr

LAST REVISION: 08 December 2002

EMAIL: TrueDreamr@Hotmail.com

BEGIN.

Aeka had no qualms about giving out discipline within the luxurious home that had been provided to the Royal Family while they attended classes at the Galaxy Academy. As the eldest female of the line in residence, it was her duty to maintain the household. At least, that's how she viewed it.

She had been fairly pleased upon arriving at their new home. Although the style of architecture resembled something from the American South rather than Jurai or Japan, everything was spotless, and all the rooms were ready to be moved in to. Tenchi had nearly fallen over backwards when he saw the size of the house. Even Ryoko had been impressed at the sight of it.

However, Tenchi soon mentioned to her how having so many servants in the house gave him the creeps. So she had dismissed over half of the staff. That had not gone over too well with some of them. But it was her right. Their services were no longer required. The only ones who were allowed to remain were the housekeeping, cooking, and grounds-keeping staffs.

The first change she had insisted on, was having the immense and imposing dining room furniture replaced with traditional Japanese furniture. The huge table kept everyone so far away from each other, that they almost had to yell to be heard. One look at Tenchi's face during their first dinner told her all she needed to know about that room.

The other change was the bath. It was ridiculously small compared to the bath they had enjoyed at Tenchi's home in Okayama. While they could still be used for the facilities within, only one person at a time could bathe in the tiny tubs. Ryoko had summed it up in one sentence.

"Oh, Hell no!"

The residence now sported an entirely new wing, devoted entirely to the fine art of bathing. It was fairly similar to the onsen-like bath back home, but with a few changes to accommodate the land available, and to match the house it was adjacent to. The entrance was no longer a dimensional portal, but a physical doorway, with a fine set of white arches. Other than that, it was almost the same as the one in back in Okayama.

Playing around with the interior decor gave Aeka something to concentrate on besides the immense amount of time she shared with Ryoko and Tenchi, both at home, and during classes. Strangely enough, Ryoko actually had fewer classes with Tenchi than she did. It made for some awkward silences between her and Tenchi. So, when she had the time, Aeka went about the house, making plans to replace all the stonework with wood. If she were to live here for the next couple of years, she wanted it to feel warm and alive, rather than like a cave. Although, it did amuse her to think that Ryoko must feel right at home.

One of the biggest changes since they had relocated from Earth was the King's insistence that Sasami resume her education. She had been out of school for entirely too long. Unfortunately, she was so far behind in her studies that she had utterly failed the Academy entrance exam. Poor Sasami had cried for hours, thinking she would be sent back to Jurai, alone. Washu had saved the day when she offered to have her enrolled in the public school system. Apparently, the faculty and staff for the Academy consisted of several billion individuals, many of whom had family. And, of course, there was a need to support them, as well.

With schooling came the traditional homework and study time. Sasami still cooked in her spare time. But, since she now kept a regular schooling schedule, she had to give up cooking breakfast and lunch. That was where the cooking staff came in. Aeka laughed every time she saw her sister and the cooks exchanging secrets.

What made Aeka really laugh was how she had pulled the wool over her father's eyes. When she had called him to ask his permission and sponsorship into the Academy, he had been ecstatic. He whole-heartedly approved of the idea, even going so far as to say he was proud of her for making such a wise decision. For a moment, Aeka had felt a little guilty for deceiving her father. But then she remembered how he had tried to marry her off without even telling her. She decided that not telling him that Tenchi would also be at the Academy was fair payment.

The newly restored Headmaster Washu made frequent visits, even though her work kept her away most of the time. When she did stop by, it was usually because Sasami called her to let her know she was cooking dinner. Tonight was one of those nights. Standing imperiously over the new, lower dinner table, Aeka was more than happy to berate Washu for her lack of punctuality as the diminutive professor casually sauntered into the dining room from one of the adjacent hallways, wielding a friendly wave as if nothing were amiss.

"Hey! How's it going?"

"Well, it's about time you showed up for dinner! My sister has been slaving over a hot stove all evening, and all she gets is a 'Hi! How are you?'"

"I'm here, aren't I? Be happy with that."

"You could at least call if you are going to be late."

Washu sat down at the dinner table.

"Well, when you can give a lecture on sub-molecular wave propagation theory, let me know. I've got a job for ya."

Quickly changing tacks, Washu turned to address Ryoko on the other side of the table.

"And as for you, Little Ryoko, you'd better kick ass on your finals, or the College Board is going to try to suspend you."

Ryoko sprayed a mouthful of sake across the table in response.

"What?! They can't do that! You're my Mom!"

"Even I can't stop them if your grades suck. The only thing that's saving you is your particle physics class."

Ryoko smiled at that. By some strange twist of fate, she could crunch numbers like there was no tomorrow. She was the only student in recent history to actually get a one hundred per-cent average in that class. Washu continued to make her case for Ryoko's transfer to another college.

"You really ought to transfer to Mathematics."

"No way. That college is way over on the other side of the system."

"So?"

Ryoko mumbled something that no one could hear through the cup she was holding in front of her mouth.

"What was that? You'd miss Tenchi too much?"

Ryoko's face turned red as she shouted across the table again.

"That's none of your business!"

Just then, Tenchi came through the doorway opposite from the one Washu had entered.

"Who misses me?"

The girls all gave Tenchi their traditional greetings as he made his way to his normal spot next to Ryoko.

There was one of the other greatest differences since they had relocated to the Academy. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, absolutely nothing happened when Tenchi sat down next to Ryoko. Aeka had feared the devil-woman, as she still liked to refer to her, would constantly flaunt her relationship with Tenchi. It was not so. If anything, she was showing more restraint than ever. Of course, any adult with half a brain knew she more than made up for it in the bedroom.

Although she had wanted to stay nearby, there was a limit to how close Aeka wished to remain. She had intentionally chosen the bedroom farthest from them, so that any noise that they made, unintentionally or otherwise, would be inaudible in her room. That was something she did not wish to be exposed to. Just thinking of the two of them together like that sometimes made her feel ill.

One thing she was thankful for, was how Tenchi still treated her with courtesy and respect. It was like he actually wanted her to stay, despite his feelings for Ryoko. Needless to say, it was a little bit confusing. But, there were many things to do to keep her mind off of such troublesome subjects. Such as the upcoming summer vacation that Tenchi was about to address.

"So! Is everybody ready for summer vacation?"

Sasami's voice echoed from the adjacent kitchen area.

"Yahoo!"

Everyone chuckled and laughed at her excitement. Despite the merriment, Aeka was quick to point out the lack of any solid plans.

"Ah, but Lord Tenchi, we have not yet decided on what to do this summer."

Aeka's statement reminded Washu of something she had been meaning to tell her.

"That reminds me. Your ship's ready to fly."

"Ryu-o?"

"Yes, ma'am! I checked on it a couple days ago. The information you gave me on Royal Tree growth rates was a big help. It'll be ready to fly any day, now."

Aeka bowed her head in gratitude, her previous annoyance forgotten.

"Thank you, little Washu."

"That's great, Aeka!" Tenchi was always quick to congratulate Aeka on anything the least bit positive. It seemed to help keep her spirits up. "I guess that means we're going back to Okayama for the summer."

Aeka did not appear very enthusiastic as she sat down and picked up her cup of tea.

"Apparently so. However, I'm afraid I won't be able to stay very long. While Ryu-o is now capable of self-propulsion, it is still just a central core unit. I'll have to travel to either Ryuten or Jurai to have the exterior armor replaced. It could take several weeks."

Tenchi watched as Aeka stared into her cup.

"Oh!"

Everybody looked towards the kitchen where Sasami's sudden exclamation had come from. Tonight's chef emerged from the open third door with a large pot of white rice, which she easily set down on the table, making sure to place it on the protective wicker mat.

"And **that** reminds **me**. My sister has received a package from Asahi today."

"I have? You should have told me sooner!" Aeka immediately got up and went to retrieve the package from the small stand near the front door where mail and other posts were left for their recipients.

She found it easily, as it was the largest of all the missives. Aeka's curiosity grew when opening it revealed that there were several envelopes within. A strange sense of Deja vous descended over her as she found that there was an envelope for everybody, including those still on Earth. Having personal experience with such mailings, Aeka had a strong suspicion what was in each envelope. Quickly returning to the dining room, she began distributing the mail.

"There seems to be an envelope for everyone."

Each person in turn received their mail from Aeka. Sasami had already returned to the kitchen to get the next dish, so Aeka held on to hers until she returned. There was also envelopes for Lord Katsuhito, Nobuyuki, Mihoshi, and Minagi, of whom they had not seen recently. Aeka had hardly even begun to open her own envelope when she heard ripping and tearing. Washu suddenly seemed very excited.

"Well, it's about time!"

Despite the fact that Tenchi had received his envelope before Ryoko, her patented shredding technique allowed her to open hers well before Tenchi. She only shrugged.

"Figures."

Tenchi smiled brightly.

"This is wonderful! I just wish they'd given us more notice. It's only a couple of weeks away."

Sasami emerged from the kitchen again holding a covered pan that steamed from a vent hole near the edge of the lid. A pair of furry cabbit mittens protected her hands from the heat.

"What's going on? Everybody sounds so excited."

Aeka held out Sasami's invitation to Gohgei and Asahi's wedding. After carefully setting the steaming pan on another of the small mats, Sasami took the envelope and ripped it open to get at the card it contained.

"They're getting married? That is wonderful! I'll bet they planned it to be in the summer so we could go." Sasami turned her pretty pink eyes on her sister. "We are going, aren't we?"

"Of course we are. We can go to Earth first, to pick-up Mihoshi, Tenchi's father, and Brother Yosho. Then, we'll take Ryu-o to Ryuten."

A sheet of folded-over paper fell from Aeka's invitation as she opened the card to peruse the details of the wedding.

"Eh? What's this?" She picked up the paper and unfolded it so she could see what it was.

"Oh. It seems we've been invited to spend the summer at the governor's cottage on Ryuten. Isn't that kind?"

Ryoko seemed suspicious of the invitation.

"Is there enough room?"

"Asahi's father is governor of Ryuten, remember. There's plenty of room, even for one such as you."

Ryoko sent a suspicious glare Aeka's way.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Their cottage is located well away from any of the large cities on the planet. Lord Tenchi should feel right at home."

"I don't believe it!" Tenchi suddenly exclaimed as he scratched at the back of his head. "Gohgei wants me to be Best Man!"

Sasami voiced her agreement.

"Congratulations, Tenchi! I think that's a great idea."

As Aeka continued reading the personal letter within the invitation, she found a similar request.

"And I am to be Asahi's Maid of Honor."

Ryoko scrutinized her own invitation a little closer.

"Wait a minute. How come you two are in the wedding and I'm not?"

Aeka happily explained the meaning of Ryoko's lack of involvement in the wedding as she stuffed the paper and invitation back into her envelope. 

"Perhaps it's because they realize having you in the wedding would turn it into a fiasco?"

Ryoko responded to the mild jab by turning her head away and making a disgusted look.

"Tsk. You would think Asahi would have picked the prettiest girl to be Maid of Honor."

"And so she did."

Ryoko growled her annoyance as Aeka expertly picked her apart.

"Is that so?" She turned to Tenchi. "Tenchi, who's the prettiest girl here?"

Tenchi had seen that question coming, and already had a suitable answer prepared.

"I refuse to answer the question on the basis that it may incriminate me."

Washu and Sasami began laughing and giggling. Aeka and Ryoko looked away from each other, both of them with disgusted looks pasted to their faces.

"Hmph!"

A tight knit group of people from across the galaxy were standing on the Eastern most platform of the majestic Imperial Spaceport of Ryuten. High above, like a massive garnet against the blue sky, Ryo-o-ki hovered over them. The core unit that contained Ryuo was once more held within her stony grasp.

In the bright sunshine, the happy couple of Asahi and Gohgei were waiting just outside the landing zone. Gohgei was dressed in his priestly robes, and holding a parasol to keep the sun's harmful rays from striking his fiancée. Beside him, with a huge smile on her face, Asahi was wearing typical light clothes appropriate for the Juraian nobility. She happily waved to everybody, including the large ship hovering overhead.

"Hi, everybody!"

Then, Gohgei made an incredible poor choice. He reached into his robe and pulled out the carrot he was intending to present to Ryo-o-ki.

"Myaaa!"

Before anyone could object, Ryo-o-ki suddenly appeared between them. She ran straight to Gohgei's open arms and leapt up to accept his gift. The landing pad was shaken to its foundation when the core-unit which Ryo-o-ki had just released slammed down right behind everyone. Various colors of hair fluttered in their owners' faces. Aeka suddenly began to look very sick.

"Was that...?"

Sasami took a quick look over her shoulder to take stock of the damage.

"Yup."

Ryo-o-ki continued contentedly chewing on her carrot.

"Myan!"

Aeka felt herself relaxing at the first sight of Asahi's family's summer cottage, which was snuggled in the foothills of a mountain range well over an hour from the nearest town. It was about the same size as Tenchi's home in Okayama. An authentic hot-spring bubbled from the depths of the land just behind it. Although it was not built in or about a tree, as most homes were on Jurai, the immediate area surrounding it had several trees of impressive size and stature, except for the grav-car landing area, which was of necessity, paved.

Being a princess, Aeka thought nothing of leaving her luggage for the men to carry in while she and Asahi walked toward the home, carrying-on about everything under the sun, most especially the upcoming wedding. Despite the happy occurrence, Aeka could not help a certain sense of doom-and-gloom from coming over her. Then again, maybe she was just a bit jealous. Asahi was not even of legal age, yet.

"So, tell me. How are you managing such a thing, being married before you have come of age?"

Asahi waved the idea away as if it were something not to be spoken of.

"Actually, I turn eighteen the day of the wedding. But, it's a wonderful birthday present, don't you think?"

"I... suppose that is one way to look at it."

Looking over her shoulder, Aeka noticed that Ryoko was just standing around and watching the men as they set about getting the luggage out of the grav-car.

Seeing the same thing, Tenchi sent Ryoko an annoyed look.

"You know, Ryoko, you're stronger than all of us put together. You could help out."

Ryoko gave him her sweetest smile as he pulled yet another suitcase from the vehicle's immense cargo compartment.

"I could."

Aeka called to Ryoko to get her away from the men, especially Tenchi.

"Miss Ryoko, leave those men alone! Allow them to do their work in peace!"

Next to Tenchi were Katsuhito, Nobuyuki and Gohgei, who were also helping to unload. As he handed the next suitcase down, he turned to his grandfather.

"Hey, Grandpa, don't they have servants for this sort of thing?"

As he expected, his seemingly omniscient grandfather had an answer for him.

"Important families often have homes in places like this so that they can get away from the attention and requirements of normal life. Having a great many servants would defeat that purpose, wouldn't it?"

"I feel like I'm the servant." Tenchi grumbled.

Both of Tenchi's elders chuckled at that. And of course his father had something smart to say.

"Better get used to it."

Ryoko suddenly appeared, sitting on the suitcase he was holding between his hands. She gave him a threatening look while he struggled to hold the weight she added to his load.

"Did you say something?"

Nobuyuki's eyes went wide.

"Er, no! No, I didn't."

"I didn't think so."

"Miss Ryoko!" Aeka called again. "If you're going to stay over there, then do something useful! Otherwise, go away!"

Ryoko rolled her eyes before leaping into the air.

"All right, all right! Don't you ever shut up?!"

"Something's different about Ryoko."

Aeka looked side-long at Asahi. Visible on her far-side was Sasami as she walked out to join them from inside the cottage.

"I'll say. But, it's kind of hard to tell just by looking, isn't it?"

Asahi looked at her, curious as to what Sasami meant by that.

"To tell what?"

Calmly, as if it were an everyday occurrence, Sasami told Asahi what the deal was.

"Tenchi and Ryoko are a couple."

Asahi's gaze returned to Tenchi.

"Oh! Well, that's, uh..." Asahi suddenly stopped in the middle of her sentence. After a moment of considering Aeka's feelings on that matter, she changed what she had been meaning to say. "I see. Um... I know!"

The young lady turned her full attention to Sasami, while holding her hands at chest level.

"Could I trouble you for some of your famous tea? I've been dying to try it again."

Sasami smiled, happy to be recognized.

"I'd be happy to make some!"

Asahi turned back to Aeka to invite her in to join them. But Aeka was still staring at Tenchi. After several seconds Aeka noticed that she was being watched.

"I think I'll join you, if you don't mind."

Finally turning away from the sight of Tenchi, Aeka went inside with Sasami. Asahi stayed behind a moment, watching the sisters walk into the cottage. She had already noticed how quiet Aeka had grown since their last meeting. Now that she was really looking, she also saw how Aeka was walking. Her shoulders seemed to slump, and her head was no longer held high. The First Princess looked defeated.

"Aeka..."

"Ahhh..."

Ryoko let out a long, contentful sigh as she immersed herself in the hot waters of the natural hot spring next to the house where they were staying. Nestled at the base of the foothills below a long mountain range, this place really was just like a taste of Japan. With all the plants and trees, this place felt alive. Even though the waters caused her to slip into a state of deep relaxation, it was an exciting kind of relaxation. With an impish grin, Ryoko briefly considered dragging Tenchi in for a little skinny dipping. The sound of the other girls entering put an end to that idea. With a disappointed sigh, she reached over the edge of the pool to retrieve the bottle of sake she had brought with her before Asahi or Aeka could get their hands on it.

"Well, I see you were quick to find this place." Aeka said as she stepped down into the water. "It's too bad you aren't as quick to finish your chores."

"Put a sock in it, Princess. I'm on vacation."

"That does not give you an excuse to slack-off."

Asahi entered right behind Aeka.

"Oh, it's all right, Aeka. You're on vacation, too. You should relax. Besides, Tenchi and Sasami are cleaning things up, tonight. Why don't we all take turns from now on?"

Aeka echoed Ryoko's earlier sigh of relaxation as she immersed herself to her neck.

"My, this is nice, isn't it? That sounds like an equitable solution. What do you think, Miss Ryoko?"

Ryoko waved her hand at Aeka as if it were of no consequence.

"Whatever."

Aeka scowled at Ryoko's lack of interest while Asahi watched in rapt interest, expecting that one of their famous fights would break-out at any moment.

"Why must you never take an interest in anything else besides sake and Lord Tenchi?"

"If it doesn't have anything to do with me, why should I?"

"It has everything to do with you! You are irresponsible and obnoxious. What Lord Tenchi sees in you I will never understand."

"Tsk. Who are you, my mother?"

"Thank God, no. I would have died of a heart attack long ago."

"Well, at your age it's no wonder."

Aeka shot angrily to her feet, spraying water everywhere.

"How dare you insinuate that I'm an old maid!"

Ryoko cracked a big smile.

"I didn't. The only one here who said anything about being an old maid is you."

Aeka's eyes flashed with anger as she ground her teeth together.

"Stand up."

Ryoko's smile changed to a malevolent grin.

"All right, Princess. If that's what you want."

But before she could even set down her bottle of sake, Washu burst through the surface of the water right next to them with a strange device in her right hand that resembled a tennis racket on steroids.

"Wow! Would you look at this?"

The girls stared at her with surprise, then annoyance as Washu extolled the virtues of a good mineral bath.

"The waters in this pool are chock full of minerals and anti-oxidants that are just great for the skin! It's a veritable fountain of youth!"

Ryoko promptly started laughing.

"I guess Aeka's in the right place then, huh? Ha-ha-ha!"

As Ryoko went on, she heard Aeka say something that made her stop laughing.

"I hate you."

The other girls looked at Aeka in surprise, including Ryoko, who asked for a repeat.

"Huh? What was that?"

Aeka looked her square in the eye and yelled as loud as she could.

"I said **I HATE YOU!**"

Without waiting for a response, Aeka leapt from the onsen and ran right past Mihoshi as the air-headed blonde entered, sending her whirling around and into the bushes. The others watched Aeka with great concern, except for Ryoko, who seemed more confused than anything.

"Why'd she say that?"

Casting a sorrowful look at the door, Asahi offered an explanation.

"Well, you were teasing her about being an old maid."

"She said it. Not me."

Washu was quick to add in her two cents, especially when it came to her daughter's behavior.

"When are you going to realize you're not the only one with feelings around here?"

"So... you're saying I hurt Aeka's feelings?"

"Give the girl in the birthday suit a cigar."

Ryoko sent Washu a nasty look to rival the one Washu was giving her. Luckily for her, Asahi also had a suggestion on how to fix the situation.

"Maybe you should apologize."

Ryoko's face contorted into a grimace as she groaned. She hated apologizing. But still, looking at the door next to the still dizzy Mihoshi, Ryoko could not deny that hearing Aeka say she hated her struck a funny chord inside. With a reluctant sigh, she began to climb out of the water. Just then, the sound of a great many dishes breaking all at once came from inside the house.

Aeka had intended to find Lord Tenchi, just not in such an impressively disastrous way. Now, not only was she angry, but also embarrassed as they lay amongst the ruins of an armful of dinner plates.

"Geez, Aeka. What's the big idea?"

Tenchi rubbed at the back of his head. When he opened his eyes and saw that Aeka was wearing nothing but a bathing towel, he could not help but notice that, from where he was sitting, it did little for her modesty. Fortunately, he managed to avert his eyes before Aeka noticed.

As soon as she realized her towel had fallen open, Aeka's face turned even redder. She promptly folded it about herself again before anything else. Then she tried to apologize.

"Lord Tenchi, I..."

But then she noticed how he was looking away, obviously embarrassed by her state of undress.

"I'm sorry."

Making sure to keep her legs closed as she attempted to stand, Aeka felt something sharp jam into her right foot when she put weight on it, making her cry out in pain.

"OW!"

She lifted her foot up, and immediately lost her balance on the wet floor, which was covered in water from her bath. Flinging her arms wide as she fell, her towel, which was just barely still wrapped around her, flew into the air.

Tenchi managed to get to his knees in time to catch her. The naked princess fell right into his open arms. As Tenchi sat back, relieved that he had prevented any further injury to Aeka's person, her towel fell flat across her body, covering the compromising position from casual observation.

Once the shock of her fall passed, Aeka realized that Tenchi had his arms around her bare body. Her initial reaction was indignance. People were not supposed to touch her this way. But that quickly changed when she reminded herself it was Tenchi who was holding her. His strong arms wrapped protectively around her bare midsection, and his breath breezing over her shoulder, made her pulse race. She slid her arms out from under the towel and wrapped them around her chest to keep the towel in place. 

From his end, Tenchi could not help comparing the woman in his arms to Ryoko. They were both women, and shared the same basic build: a bust, narrow waist and shoulders, and wide hips. Their skin also felt the same, except for the water which was still present on Aeka from the onsen. Besides hair and eye color, the only differences he could detect were smell and his own feelings. Ryoko's smell was heady and intoxicating. Breathing against her neck always gave him a bit of a rush. Aeka smelled like the pure rain and spring flowers. Holding her reminded Tenchi of earth and water. She was solid, not thick by any means, just solid, like the earth. It seemed somehow appropriate for her. Holding Ryoko was like trying to hold a firestorm. She seemed airy, almost diaphanous in his grasp, giving him the feeling she would slip away if he did not hold tightly enough. The thought of her slipping away always made him hold tighter. With Aeka, he had no such thoughts. She would never slip away. Not ever.

"Oh, my."

Sasami's comment from behind them reminded Tenchi that there were others in attendance.

"Sasami, would you get the first aid kit? I think Aeka hurt herself."

"Right away!" The young lady promptly vanished back into the kitchen to search for the kit.

"Is everything all right?"

Gohgei came down the stairs to investigate the alarming sounds of breakage and yells. When he saw what was going on, his face colored a bit. Aeka opened her eyes and noticed someone staring at her.

"Do you mind?"

Gohgei looked a little confused for a moment, then realization lit his face like a Startica tree. He immediately turned away.

"No. Of course. Um, you know, I get queasy at the sight of blood. I think I'll leave before Ryoko gets here."

"Too late."

Gohgei cringed at the sound of Ryoko's voice as she emerged from the onsen, fully clothed.

"Later!"

Like a cannon shot, Gohgei burst through the nearest wall, leaving behind a hole that perfectly matched his size and bald-headed shape. Through the hole, Aeka and Tenchi could see a trail of dust winding it's way up the mountains. Ryoko stepped right in their way to take a look.

"What's his problem?"

Tenchi remained silent as he realized the only way to get out of this compromising situation was to reveal it. However, as Ryoko turned her attention towards the fallen Aeka, the princess began to struggle.

"Geez, Aeka. You're getting to be almost as bad as Mihoshi."

"This is all your fault! Stay away from me, you she-devil!"

Ryoko gave the princess a nasty glare.

"Oh. So, I come in here to help, and this is the thanks I get?" She leaned against the nearest wall. "Fine. Bleed to death for all I care."

"Ryoko, that's not a very nice thing to say. Can't you see Aeka hurt herself?"

Tenchi actually flinched when Ryoko leveled her angry glare at him.

"Well, excuse me! Her Holiest Most Mighty First Princess in the Whole Galaxy Aeka, isn't the only one with feelings in this house!"

From her hiding place around the corner where she was watching with Asahi, Washu hung her head.

"That's not what I meant."

"And, by the way, is there any particular reason you've got your arms around Aeka like that?"

Tenchi immediately leapt away from Aeka, who promptly fell backwards and hit her head on the floor, rendering herself unconscious. As soon as he was clear, Tenchi began bowing and apologizing profusely, repeating over and over "I'm sorry!".

Ryoko let Tenchi continue his apologizing as she went to look at Aeka's foot.

"Clumsy princess."

Kneeling down, she picked up the offended extremity and plucked the protruding shard of earthenware from her sole. With a wet smack, she slapped her hand across the cut.

"You can stop now."

Tenchi breathed a sigh of relief as he fell to his knees, wiping his sweaty brow.

"Whew! But, seriously, Ryoko. I really am sorry. I... just didn't want Aeka to fall and hurt herself again."

"Yeah, I kind of figured it was something like that."

A look of confusion crossed Tenchi's face.

"Huh? Then why were you so upset?"

Ryoko grinned.

"I just wanted to see you bow and scrape."

Tenchi hit the floor with his face.

"Say, Little Ryoko."

Ryoko nearly jumped when she heard Washu's voice almost in her ear. The diminutive scientist was at her elbow with another of her ridiculous inventions pointed at the hand she had wrapped around Aeka's foot. A soft yellow glow seemed to surround her hand.

"Would you stop doing that?"

"Whatever. What are doing there, huh?"

"You don't know? You must be going senile."

Washu ignored the jab about her age.

"You're healing her foot, aren't you?"

"Duh."

"Since when can you do that?"

Ryoko opened her mouth to answer, and realized that she had no answer.

"Uhhh..."

Washu's device beeped.

"You're done."

Ryoko let go of Aeka's foot, allowing it to thump to the floor.

Washu performed a quick visual and electronic inspection of the wound site by lifting Aeka's foot by the big toe and pointing her device at it.

"Mm. Nice job. Completely healed with no sign of scarring."

She dropped Aeka's foot back to the floor, and held her clenched fist against her bosom. Tears filled her eyes and her lower lip trembled.

"I'm so proud of you, Little Ryoko!"

Ryoko just stared at her hand. The blood was gone.

"How...?"

Washu suddenly grabbed her by the ear and began dragging her away.

"OOWW! What the Hell, Mom?"

"You are coming to the lab for some more tests."

"Aw, come on! What'd I do this time?"

Tenchi watched as Washu dragged his girlfriend into the darkness of an inter-dimensional portal, which closed as soon as they disappeared into its depths. Once the portal was closed, he sighed.

Looking down, Tenchi saw that with all the attention that had been paid to Aeka's foot, her towel had slipped up, allowing a view of something he should not be looking at. He was suddenly very glad Ryoko had finally cured his nose-bleed problem.

_"I wonder..."_

"I found it!"

Sasami burst back into the connecting hallway between the kitchen and living room to deliver the first aid kit, causing Tenchi to jump straight up in fright and hit his head on the ceiling. He then crashed to the floor next to Aeka, unconscious.

"Tenchi? Aeka?"

Sasami cast a woeful look at the two unconscious people. Then, noticing that her sister was a bit improper, she reached down and pulled Aeka's towel down further.

"That's better."

As they rode to the wedding ceremony in the large private conveyance that looked very much like a very curvaceous flying limousine, Ryoko jumped from seat to seat, looking out the windows and taking in the sites. She jabbered constantly about what she saw going by outside the vehicle. What she was so excited about, Tenchi could not guess. What he did understand was how much he liked her dress.

She was wearing a fabulous pink dress that began at chest level, leaving her arms and shoulders bare. It hugged her body down to mid-thigh, where it flared outwards with satiny pink ruffles. Three bows were arranged, one at her left breast, another on her right hip, and the third on her left thigh where the dress started to flare out. The dress looked amazingly sexy while still maintaining both decency and femininity. He especially liked how it showed off her rear.

Across from Tenchi, Aeka sat quietly on the black leather seat in a very fancy kimono. It was very colorful and festive, as well as formal enough for this auspicious occasion. Her graceful and elegant style held it's own beauty, entirely comparable to Ryoko's, yet almost totally different.

Since the strange incident the other day when Aeka had injured herself, she had been acting rather strange. For one, she was no longer trying to avoid him. In fact, she was sticking by him whenever possible. If he did not know Aeka better, he would think she was trying to get closer to him. He did not mind it. In fact, it was preferable to the distance she had been keeping over the last year.

But still, he could not help a feeling of guilt over how Aeka must feel about his relationship with Ryoko. Although common sense told him he had done nothing wrong, he still felt the need to apologize to Aeka. He had already done that once. But it just was not enough. He still felt like he should be doing more for her. Her pain was obvious every time he caught her looking when he and Ryoko were showing affection towards one another.

Thinking back, Tenchi mentally reviewed what had happened a couple days ago. Aeka had come running towards the kitchen, crying. He would have tried to move out of the way, except for the sight of her in nothing but a bath towel. Such a strange sight had startled him into inaction. But, now that he thought about it, she had been running into the kitchen, not to her room, where her cloths were. That meant she had been looking for something or someone in the kitchen. Perhaps it was Lord Tenchi she was running to.

Then they collided. Dishes went everywhere, Aeka cut her foot, and then he was holding her naked body in his arms. No matter how hard he tried, he could not get the memory of that experience out of his mind. The warmth of her body against his, the feel of her skin, the smell of her hair...

"Is there something wrong, Lord Tenchi?"

Startled out of his reverie, Tenchi said the first thing that came to mind.

"You... look beautiful."

Aeka blushed. Ryoko looked over her shoulder at him. She turned part way around and switched her gaze back and forth from Tenchi and Aeka several times as they stared at each other. Her cheeks puffed out with jealousy. Moving quickly to put an end to the staring contest, she plopped down next to Tenchi and wrapped herself around his arm.

"What about me, Tenchi? Aren't I beautiful, too?"

Tenchi finally broke the lock and turned his face towards Ryoko's until he felt her forehead against his cheek.

"You're both beautiful."

For her part, Aeka also could not get that experience out of her mind. Feeling his strong arms encircling her body had excited her to no end. Far from being embarrassed about it, she very much wanted to experience that feeling again. But desire and reality were by no means bed-fellows. As long as Ryoko was still latched to Tenchi's arm, her desires and reality would never be the same. With each beat of her heart, she could feel the pulse of desire running through her veins. But accompanying that desire, was the pain of the reality that Tenchi had chosen another.

Ryoko snuggled closer as Aeka turned her gaze outside the vehicle. She stared pensively out at the structures passing below as she silently considered what Tenchi had meant by the long look and glittering compliment he had just given her.

Royalty and other important personages from all over the empire were in attendance as Tenchi and family arrived at the wedding chapel. It was traditional for Planetary Governors to send invitations to the Royal Family when someone in the family was getting married. Normally, these invitations were politely declined, or only one of the family went as a representative. But, since it was Asahi and Gohgei that were getting married, everyone had decided to go as a gesture of acknowledgement for the importance of Ryuten to the empire. This planet was the only place other than Jurai where Royal Trees could be grown.

Despite the auspicious occasion, Aeka could make herself feel happy for her friends. She kept to herself and spoke only when it was required of her to be polite. Even as they stood in the antechamber just moments before the ceremony was to begin, Asahi was still trying to cheer her up.

"Aeka, try to smile, even just a little bit, okay?"

Aeka looked at Asahi as she stood in her beautiful white wedding dress with a look of concern on her face.

"I'm sorry, Asahi. You're right. If I go out there looking less than pleased, people will think I disapprove of your wedding, and that could never be farther from the truth."

Asahi continued to stare at her for a few seconds. Then she stepped forward and took Aeka's hands in hers.

"Aeka, you'll find someone, I know it. You just have to be patient, that's all."

"Thank you, Asahi. That means a great deal to me. I'll... try to keep my hopes up."

Aeka gave her a small smile.

"There. That's the spirit! Now if only Minagi were. Then everything would be perfect."

Aeka's smile went away as she considered the likelihood of that.

"Considering our only link with Minagi is through Ryoko, I doubt we'll see her. Miss Ryoko probably forgot to tell her."

Asahi seemed alarmed by the idea that Ryoko would forget to tell Minagi about the wedding.

"You don't really think that, do you?"

"With Ryoko, one never knows."

When the time came for Aeka to do her duty as Asahi's Maid of Honor, she did exactly as she was supposed to, and nothing more. All she had to do was walk along and then stand at the ready until the exchange of rings. But as she entered the aisle behind Asahi, her eyes went straight to the front to find Tenchi. As she expected, he was there, just behind Gohgei, who was dressed in a white tuxedo rather than his priestly robes. For a few seconds, they watched each other as she walked behind Asahi. Then, Aeka broke the stare to do as her friend had requested, and make like she was happy. She became so focused on her task that she even ignored her mother when Misaki waved at her with a smile.

When it came time for the exchange of rings, and Gohgei turned to Tenchi for the small band, Tenchi reached into a pocket and frowned. Then he reached into another pocket, and frowned again. People began to murmur. Gohgei's eyes got wide. Tenchi began reaching into every pocket he could find searching for the ring. Then, he sighed in relief and pulled the ring out of the very first pocket he had searched.

It was an old Earth joke, meant to lighten a sometimes too serious mood, and keep the event a happy one. Unfortunately, Juraian nobility was often known for their lack of a sense of humor. Most of those attending did not get the joke.

Tenchi looked Aeka's way to see her reaction. She grinned a bit. Looking over her shoulder, she could see Tenchi's father was grinning from ear-to-ear. There was no doubt in her mind that Nobuyuki was responsible for convincing Tenchi to try something like that.

When it came her turn, Aeka simply handed the gold band to Asahi, along with a supportive smile. She had been holding it in her hand the entire time, specifically so it would not get dropped or lost. Actually, she had been twirling and playing with it during the entire ceremony, trying to permanently impress into her mind the memory of how a wedding band felt. She would have tried it on except for fear that it would get stuck. Now, that would have been embarrassing.

Having completed their respective duties, Tenchi and Aeka sat on opposite sides of the aisle. As Tenchi sat, Ryoko took hold of his arm and interlaced her fingers between his. He sat contentedly watching the ceremony, and wondering if the woman he was with now would be the one he someday married. Casting a quick glance across the aisle to his right, he saw Aeka dab at the corners of her eyes with a kerchief.

The hand in his suddenly tightened, signaling that Ryoko wanted his attention. He looked left and met her scrutinous gaze. They stared into each other's eyes for several seconds. Then Tenchi raised his free hand and gently stroked Ryoko's cheek, causing a faint glimmer to appear in the corners of her eyes. He leaned in and gave her a small kiss, which she gratefully accepted with a smile.

The sound of a person choking quickly drew Tenchi's attention back to his right. He looked quickly enough to catch Aeka staring at him with tears running freely down her face. She quickly looked away, but the damage was already done.

The princess took a deep breath to stave off the coming flood, but it was no use. She stood up as her chest began to convulse and strode purposefully towards the nearest exit. Throwing open the door with enough force to make it slam against the outer wall, Aeka ran. Murmurs ran through the crowd at this unusual incident.

Concerned for Aeka, Tenchi tried to get up to chase after her. But Ryoko held tight, keeping him next to her.

"Ryoko, let go."

"Let her be." She told him.

"I can't do that."

Ryoko held tight while telling Tenchi otherwise.

"Yes, you can."

Her gaze went from his face for a moment as some activity in her line of sight caught her attention. Then it returned.

"There. See? Her mom's gonna take care of it."

Tenchi turned in his seat to see Misaki walk calmly out the same exit Aeka had just run out of. Sighing, Tenchi moved to return his attention to the front of the auditorium. Then he happened to notice the King of Jurai, Aeka's father, giving him the most vicious and hateful stare anyone had ever directed at his person. Taken aback, Tenchi quickly looked away.

"Just forget about it."

"I can't just forget about everything that's happened."

"Oh? Did something happen between you and Aeka?"

Tenchi rolled his eyes. It was not the first time Ryoko had teased him in this manner.

"No, Ryoko. Nothing happened."

Despite what he said, Tenchi suddenly got the distinct feeling he had just lied, even though that had not been his intention.

As soon as she was out of sight of the other guests, Misaki began to run to the line of waiting anti-grav vehicles. The participants in the ceremony were to leave in the two vehicles at the front of the column. Since Aeka was no where in sight, she supposed that her daughter had taken refuge in one of them.

One of the drivers, seeing her approach, moved to the back door and prepared to open it for her, signaling to her that the First Princess was waiting inside. Misaki made a mental note to thank him for his thoughtfulness. He waited until she was nearly on top of him to open the door. As soon as he pulled it open, Aeka's voice screeched out from within.

**"CLOSE THE DAMN DOOR!"**

Misaki stooped down and got in. The door shut behind her before she was even seated. A look of shock was evident on Aeka's face as she realized she had just sworn at her mother.

"I'm sorry. I..." Then she started to cry again. Throwing herself into her mother's lap, Aeka bawled her eyes out, uncaring of what Misaki thought of her running out of the ceremony.

The King's Second Wife gently stroked the back of her daughter's head and spoke comforting words of nonsense. After a few minutes with no sign of Aeka ceasing to cry, she broke into an old lullaby she had often sang to both of her girls. The sobs slowly ebbed as Aeka took comfort from the reminder of the old days of peace and security in her mother's presence. It took several minutes before Aeka could even speak. When she did it was to say something that she had been wanting to tell someone for years.

"I... Sniff I love him. I've always loved him. I... I want to... marry him and be his wife and have his children. I'd do anything for him."

Aeka paused as another sob broke her train of thought.

"Why doesn't Tenchi love me?"

"Oh, honey. Tenchi loves you. I'll bet he's just afraid to show it."

"Yeah, right. That's why he's sleeping with that monster. She's taken everything from me. First, my brother. Now Tenchi. It's not fair!"

Although tears were still flowing freely, Aeka's body was still under her control. She turned onto her stomach and stretched out on the long seat with her arms under her head in her mother's lap.

"I guess my little Aeka isn't so little anymore."

Aeka turned her head so she could look up at her mother.

"I stopped being a little girl when that hateful beast attacked my home."

"Do you really hate Ryoko that much?"

Aeka was silent for a while as she contemplated her feelings towards Ryoko.

"I pity her. She has been through worse treatment than any person could ever possibly deserve."

Aeka suddenly decided to sit up. She pushed herself upright and sat normally on the seat next to her mother.

"But a person who has gone through such things as she cannot possibly be sane! I hate to think of what kind of a wife she would be. Or a mother! She could never raise children properly! And I get ill just thinking about the two of them being intimate."

"You don't think that maybe he just feels sorry for her?"

"No! Lord Tenchi would never do such a thing. I know him well enough to know that. I believe he loves her. And I know for a fact she loves him."

Misaki pulled her legs up under her and sat cross-legged on the seat as she tapped her lips with one finger.

"Well, Tenchi is a prince of Jurai. There's nothing that says he can't have more than one wife."

"What?"

Aeka almost laughed. It was a handy solution. It was also unlikely. She just shook her head at the thought of being married to Tenchi along with Ryoko.

"Lord Tenchi would never do that, either. It is apparently quite taboo on Earth to have more than one wife. As well they have taboos against marrying inside the family."

"Oh, that's so closed-minded!"

Aeka just hung her head.

"I guess... I've lost."

"Aeka, there's lots of guys out there. Maybe you could think about one of the very many marriage offers. I understand Serifu is still available."

"Please, Mother! I'm not at all interested in him!"

"Oh?" A small grin marked Misaki's face. "Then what kind of guy are you interested in?"

Aeka closed her eyes and really let her feelings have their way.

"I want..."

"A virile young farm-boy with proper lineage?"

Aeka's eyes snapped open in shock.

"Mother!"

Misaki giggled at Aeka's reaction.

"You said you wanted to have his children. And there's only one way to do that."

Aeka put a hand over her mouth to cover her expression of humorous shock.

"I can't believe you're saying such things!"

Misaki playfully poked her daughter in the arm.

"Well, how do you think you came to be?"

Sitting back as Aeka's eyes grew wider by the second, Misaki's thoughts drifted back to a time over seven hundred years ago, when, as a fairly new mother, her four-year-old daughter had been engaged to her twelve-year-old step-son.

"Aeka, if you truly love Tenchi, don't ever give up. You'll only regret it for the rest of your life. And for someone who lives for a couple thousand years, that would be really bad."

"You... sound as if you know this from personal experience."

"Well... maybe it's just time I hit Azusa over the head with a club, again."

Aeka promptly broke into sputtering laughter.

A knock on the window indicated that someone important, probably the poor individual who would soon be unconscious, desired entrance into the vehicle. Misaki sat upright and let her legs dangle off the edge of the seat in a more appropriate manner.

"Should we let him in?"

Aeka smiled as she wiped her eyes.

"I suppose."

Misaki reached over and pressed the button that rolled the window down. As she was expecting, the guests were boarding their vehicles to either go to the reception or return to their residences. Most of the Masaki family was standing next to the door waiting for some information, including Azusa. Misaki greeted her husband with a smile.

"Well, hello dear. I hope you took your vitamins this morning."

The King's eyebrows went up in an expression of utter confusion as Funaho hid her smile behind a raised hand. Tenchi blushed, since Ryoko had once used that exact line on him. Ryoko just laughed. Seto cracked a huge grin and made no attempt at hiding it.

"Someone's been a bad boy."

Azusa's shoulders drooped.

The wedding reception was just getting into full-swing. The doors opened for the trio of Tenchi, Aeka, and Ryoko. A gentleman standing near the door announced the arrival of the First Princess and her party over the public address system.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the Her Royal Highness, the First Princess of Jurai, Aeka Masaki, accompanied by Tenchi Masaki and uh..." The gentleman held his hand over the microphone.

"Pardon me, Miss Ryoko. May I ask your family name?"

"Masaki." She answered without hesitation.

Aeka immediately spun around. The look of disgust on her face was so strong that Ryoko actually recoiled.

"It is not! The Masaki family is one of the four Royal Houses of Jurai, of which you most certainly are not!"

Tenchi jumped into the conversation, offering a solution that would hopefully dispel the argument.

"Now that I think about it, since Washu is sort-of like Ryoko's mother, I guess that makes your last name Hakubi."

"No way." Ryoko disagreed. "It's Masaki or nothing."

Aeka's look of disgust was replaced by one of smug surety.

"Very well, Ryoko Nothing."

"Hey! It's my name and I can make it whatever I want! I say it's Masaki!"

"The only way you'll ever get that name is to marry into the family and no one I know of would be foolish enough to do something like that!"

Turning to Tenchi, Ryoko reached up and seductively traced a finger along the underside of his jaw.

"I'd marry Tenchi if he asked. What do you say, Tenchi? Wanna get married?"

Tenchi's breath caught in his chest and his left eye twitched.

"Where's... um... yeah."

With precision formed from months of stealthy escapes, Tenchi slipped from Ryoko's grasp and took off into the crowd.

"Hey!" Both women watched in disbelief as he made his escape. Ryoko followed, trying to track down her boyfriend.

"Highness?" The crier asked of Aeka.

"Her name is Hakubi." Aeka explicitly instructed him before diving into the crowd to look for her immediate family.

"...and Ryoko Hakubi." He finished.

Aeka sat with her mother and grandmother, Misaki and Seto, respectively. They talked at length about nothing and everything for a great while. Their talk eventually turned to Aeka's more personal affairs. The two elder women tag-teamed Aeka, poking and prodding for details of her multi-year stay with the young man, Tenchi.

"Come now." Seto teased her. "He's never once made a pass at you?"

"Absolutely not!" Aeka assured her. "Lord Tenchi is the perfect gentleman."

"Not like Dad, is he?" Misaki giggled.

"Mother! How could you? Grandfather is a very kind and loving person."

"Hee-hee! You never heard how mom and dad met, did you?"

"Umm... Is there something I should know?" Aeka looked from her mother to her grandmother and back again.

"Well." Seto grinned from ear to ear. Just before she could open her mouth to relate the story of how she and Utsumi had met, a pair of uniformed soldiers interrupted the conversation to whisper some tidings to each of the elder women at the table. Seto grimaced, and Misaki actually groaned.

"Oh, can't it wait?"

"It seems our celebration will have to wait."

Misaki got up and then planted a motherly kiss on Aeka's cheek.

"Give our regards to the newly-weds, won't you?"

"Of course. But, must you leave so soon?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, dear. I promise, we'll see you later, okay?" She assured her daughter as she and her mother took their leave, with the two messengers trailing behind.

As was the custom, the crier announced the Royal Family's exit.

"Their Royal Highnesses, King Azusa, Queen Funaho, Queen Misaki, and the Lady Seto!"

Aeka turned to look at the door.

_"Goodness! All of them? I wonder what happened."_

Someone slapped a friendly hand on her shoulder.

"Hiya!"

Looking over her shoulder, Aeka was very surprised to recognize Ryoko's near-twin, Minagi.

"Miss Minagi!"

Minagi's grin widened when she saw that Aeka was excited to see her.

"Surprised?"

"Yes, frankly. We were beginning to think Ryoko had simply forgotten about you and was lying to cover it up."

Minagi took one of the empty seats next to Aeka and sat down.

"Naw. It's just been a little hectic out there. There's weird ships everywhere!"

Minagi's claim piqued Aeka's curiosity. Perhaps these ships had something to do with her family leaving so suddenly.

"Weird ships?"

"Yeah. They're all robotic. Not a single person on any of them."

"That is strange."

"Mmm."

The two girls sat silently contemplating this development for a moment, until Minagi realized she was getting distracted from her purpose in being at the reception.

"Oh, well! Let's just forget about it!"

"But, mother and father and Ladies Funaho and Seto just left! Perhaps the two things are related."

Minagi just smiled.

"Nope. That was me. I'm a space-pirate, remember? It's not like I can just walk into a royal reception. I set-up a little diversion to distract the patrol ships while I landed."

"Minagi!"

The younger sibling of Ryoko just giggled.

"So, is everybody here?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact."

"Cool! I'm gonna go say hi to Asahi. She is such a doll!"

Minagi practically leapt from her chair to find the young lady who had just been married, leaving Aeka alone again.

As Sasami made her way through the throng of party-goers, she spied her sister sitting at a table all by herself. Altering her course, she made for Aeka's table. About halfway there, someone inadvertently stepped backwards directly into her path. They thumped into each other.

"Excuse me. Sorr..." Sasami's apology stammered to a halt when she realized she had bumped into the younger Amaki son, Shuzan. He had pink hair like his brother, Serifu, but cut short in a style similar to pictures she had seen of Yosho when he was younger. She had heard that Serifu had a younger brother, but she had not known he was so close to her age. Seeing that he had bumped into someone, he politely bowed in apology.

"No. Excuse me, please. I wasn't watching where I was going. You're not injured, are you?"

Sasami shook her head.

"That's good. It is pretty crowded in here, though."

Sasami was finding it rather difficult to speak to this young man. It was not that she felt intimidated or threatened. Actually, she thought he was being quite personable. She just could not think of anything to say that would not sound stupid. She only barely managed to acknowledge his words.

"Mmm-hmm."

"Umm..." Since Shuzan had also run out of things to say, he began scratching absently at the back of his head.

Serifu suddenly arrived just behind his younger brother.

"Good evening, Princess. I see you've met my younger brother. I feel I must apologize. He's quite shy. Perhaps... her highness could favor him with a dance."

Shuzan began blushing as Serifu went on.

"Despite appearances, he is well versed in the social arts."

Sasami began to blush, as well.

"Well, I... um... okay."

"Her highness is as generous as everyone says. Isn't that right, Shuzan?"

"Yes."

Shyly, Shuzan held out his left hand to Sasami.

"Shall we?"

Equally as shy, Sasami placed her right hand in his, and followed as he led her away to the dance floor. Dancing couples made way for them with small grins and knowing smiles as they found their place.

Shuzan turned to Sasami and bowed, making Sasami giggle just a bit. She returned the gesture with a polite curtsy. Falling into the familiar routine gave both of them more confidence before actually beginning to dance. The preliminaries complete, they moved closer. Sasami's left hand went to Shuzan's shoulder while his right hand went to her waist. Then they danced. For almost a minute neither of them said a thing, until Shuzan broke the uncomfortable silence.

"I'm sorry. My bother's always trying to, um..."

"Hook you up with girls?"

Shuzan's face flushed red again.

"Yeah."

Sasami giggled once more.

"You're funny."

"Really?"

The giggles threatened to become full-blown laughter as Sasami nodded vigorously.

"Mmm."

"Well, I guess that's better than being shy."

Sasami burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry! I don't mean to laugh. I can't help it!" She could tell by Shuzan's half-smile that he was trying to get into the spirit of things.

"Wha... what's so funny?"

"Nothing. Now, I'm the one who's being silly."

"Oh." That was something Shuzan could understand. Girls were like that, always laughing and giggling. It was one of the mysteries of the universe, he supposed.

"You know what?" Sasami asked him.

"What?"

"I'm glad you asked me to dance."

Shuzan's face turned beet-red.

"Oh. Uh... heh... um... you're welcome."

Sasami started giggling again at Shuzan's shy manner.

As his brother successfully diverted the Second Princess, Serifu turned his attention back to the table where Aeka was seated. He was careful not to spill his drink as he politely elbowed his way through the people. He felt a bit disappointed with the Governor of Ryuten for holding the reception in such cramped quarters. A person of such high standing certainly should be able to reserve better than this, especially considering who was attending. Royalty deserved to be treated better.

Unfortunately for him, the trip turned out to be for nothing. When he finally arrived at the table, Princess Aeka was gone. Silently, he cursed the bad luck that had landed him in this horrid situation. After fighting seven duels to become the Princess's fiancée, he had been defeated by an idiotic twist of fate. His sword-master had warned him that it was the inexperienced opponents one had to watch out for.

But fate had seen fit to give him one last opportunity. In this social atmosphere, he could approach the princess and engage her in innocent conversation. Eventually he would turn the talk to her future. Serifu almost smiled as he recalled what he had seen earlier. The First Princess looking on as the woman, Ryoko, danced intimately with the man Aeka had publicly acknowledged as her own chosen suitor. Her look of pain had said more than an entire library of books. However, he had to find her before he could take advantage of the situation.

Instead of the First Princess, he found Ryoko seated at the table. She was staring into a large glass of clear liquid, which she was idly stirring with her index finger. Making a quick turn, Serifu managed to avoid an unwanted confrontation. Luck had not entirely abandoned him. Ryoko did not notice his aborted approach.

Tenchi led Aeka by the hand to the dance floor. He had been keeping a surreptitious eye on her all evening after the incident at the wedding ceremony. Whatever was going on with her, he wanted to do something about it. It really bothered him to see her so depressed. Getting Ryoko to go along with this had taken some doing, but she had relented in the end. It was not really that big of a deal.

Since he was from Earth, and had little or no experience with the particulars of social dancing, Tenchi simply ignored the normal Juraian conventions and put his hands on Aeka's waist. Aeka blinked in surprise. For a moment she thought he was being a little forward. But then she remembered that he was not as experienced as she with social customs, and so excused his behavior. However, since he had both hands on her waist, she had to put both of her hands on his shoulders. It was a little more intimate than what she had been expecting, not that she was complaining.

"How are you feeling?"

Aeka lowered her gaze.

"I'm terribly sorry for succumbing to such a horrid display. Asahi must be furious with me."

"Naw. Actually, she was concerned. We all were."

"That doesn't excuse my behavior. I'm very sorry for causing you such embarrassment. I... seem to be doing a great deal of that, lately."

"Aeka, it's not your fault."

"Well, since I'm the one who ran out of the ceremony, who else's fault could it be?"

"Me."

"You, Lord Tenchi?"

"I made a choice, knowing full-well what the consequences would be." Tenchi showed a small grin to lighten the mood. "Actually, I'm impressed by how well you've been taking it."

Aeka grimaced at that. To her, it felt like her entire world had collapsed. It had been obvious to her for some time that something would eventually happen between Tenchi and Ryoko if things continued in the same direction. For some strange reason, she had stayed nearby even as that something was occurring. No matter how close Tenchi and Ryoko got, she just could not give up. At least the Academy was giving her something to concentrate on besides her broken heart.

"I think I now know why Brother Yosho went to the Galaxy Academy."

Tenchi gave her a questioning look.

"He went to escape his pain."

Aeka suddenly stepped away and politely bowed.

"Thank you for the dance, Lord Tenchi." She did not wait for a reply before walking away with her bottom lip held firmly between her teeth. The external pain she was inflicting on herself distracted her from what she felt inside.

Tenchi felt a pair of strong hands wrap around his right arm as he watched Aeka walk away.

"Feel better now?" Ryoko sarcastically asked.

Tenchi shook his head.

"No."

Ryoko moved her hands up to his neck and stood in front of Tenchi so he could not ignore her presence. She suggestively smiled.

"That's because you were dancing with the wrong girl."

"Was I?"

Serifu made his way across the room once more. This time his destination was the wet-bar. When a person felt depressed or despondent, he or she often resorted to drinking to escape from the pain of reality. Sure enough, he found Aeka seated on a bar-stool with her face hanging over a large tumbler full of red liquor.

"Good evening, Highness."

Aeka did not feel like exchanging pleasantries with anyone, much less this man. Still, it was not an excuse to be rude.

"Good evening, Lord Serifu."

"An auspicious occasion, is it not?"

"Indeed it is. For some of us."

"Is the Princess feeling troubled?"

Aeka turned her head to give Serifu an annoyed look.

"If I were, it would not be any of your business."

Serifu sat quietly, looking properly chastened for intruding on the princess's personal affairs. Aeka drained her tumbler, and then asked for another.

"Barkeep! Another of the same, please."

Sensing an opportunity, Serifu quickly drained his own glass.

"I'll have one of the same, if you please. What is it?"

Aeka cracked a knowing grin.

"Fire-wine."

"Hmm. It sounds like an interesting choice."

"Yes, quite interesting."

Their glasses were quickly refilled by the formally-dressed gentleman working the bar. Serifu raised his drink to propose a toast.

"To... ah..."

With an evil glint in her eye, Aeka completed the toast.

"To Hell with it."

Serifu's eyes went wide with shock. Never had he heard such a thing from a person of the Royal Family. Well, at least not in public. Obviously, the vulgarity of the people she was living with was beginning to rub off on her. In his mind, it was quite sad, really. The Princess Aeka deserved so much better. As did House Amaki.

"As you say, Highness."

Serifu took a sip of the liquor and nearly choked on the strong drink. He exhaled fiercely, blowing some of the red liquid through his nose, which only made the experience worse. Aeka laughed heartily.

"Ah, ho ho ho ho ho! If you cannot handle such a thing as this simple drink, what made you think you were fit to be my husband? Ah, ho ho ho ho!"

Serifu did his best to recover from the embarrassment. He reached for a stack of nearby tissues, and blotted his face, removing the offending substance. Despite his best efforts, he still ended up with a red stain on his light-colored coat. He had to salvage the situation, somehow. Looking balefully at the red stain, he realized it was the same color as Aeka's eyes. He quickly pasted a confident smile on his face.

"Though my pride is as stained as my shirt, I take comfort in the fact that the stain is the color of your gaze, Princess."

The stoic bartender suddenly tripped and fell. The sound of breaking glass issued from beneath the bar. Aeka blinked at Serifu, surprised at how artfully he had extricated himself from such terrible embarrassment.

"I see."

Serifu took another sip of his drink. This time he was prepared for the taste.

"Quite pleasant, once one knows what to expect."

Aeka suddenly turned on him and began unloading a bucket of troubles at his feet.

"Well, that's just the trouble today, isn't it? I always know what to expect! Of course, Asahi and Gohgei got married. They love each other. That's just fine. I'm happy for them. I expect everyone here to be very nice and polite to each other, including myself, while they're actually thinking about how to stab each other in the back over the next silly little political battle. I expected those two," she pointed behind herself towards the dance floor, "to get close. That isn't the problem, though, is it? I expect you to be very polite to me, because you desire me for your wife, thereby increasing the standing of House Amaki. And of course eventually there'll be children. As a wife, that would be my duty. I expect that, as well. What I don't expect is to... to keep..."

Aeka bit her lip again. Then she remembered she still had another tumbler full of strong drink. She raised the glass to her mouth and forced herself to drink it all at once. She drained the glass and smacked it back on the bar.

"Barkeep! Another one."

She was aware that people were beginning to give her strange looks. It just did not matter anymore. All she could feel was her pain. She would give just about anything to be rid of it. But first, she had to be rid of the minor annoyance sitting next to her. When she looked at Serifu to dismiss him, she found tears streaming down his face and his lower lip quivered in time with the fist he held clenched at chest level.

"That man has broken the princess's heart. I can stand it no longer!" Serifu stood up, intent on solving this problem in an honorable, and very public fashion. The tears abruptly stopped, along with the quivering.

"I shall challenge him to a duel of honor! The First Princess of Jurai deserves no less!"

Aeka groaned.

"Well, if you wish to be embarrassed again, be my guest. Of course, you will have to fight your way through Miss Ryoko, first."

"So be it." Serifu put his hands on his hips. His eyes began to gleam with passion. "Not only will I redeem the Princess's honor, I'll rid the empire of that abominable presence, once and for all!"

"With a stain on your shirt?"

The passion immediately left his eyes and was replaced with watery sorrow. He pulled on his shirt and held it so he could see the stain in front of his face.

"My honor is besmirched! How can I duel with a stain on my shirt?!"

A very small grin suddenly began pulling at Aeka's mouth. Although this man was a complete fop, he was willing to fight for her honor. And it was not like he was ugly. At least her father had done that part right. She could never have forgiven him if he had arranged a marriage with an ugly or fat man.

"Sit, Serifu. I command you."

Serifu sat.

"I am at your command, Highness."

Aeka made sure to speak very clearly, since she could feel the alcohol she had consumed beginning to catch up with her.

"If you duel with either of them, you will most likely have to fight both Lord Tenchi and Miss Ryoko simultaneously. They will protect each other."

"Simultaneously?" Serifu turned back to the bar, abandoning his plans of glorious victory through honorable combat. "Well, that's not very fair."

"Drink your drink."

Aeka became quite annoyed when someone began poking her elbow. She had long since lost track of the number of drinks she had had, and wanted nothing more than to drink herself into oblivion. With Serifu providing polite, if unenlightened conversation, she was quite content to stay where she was. Looking blearily over her right arm, she saw Sasami standing next to her.

"What?"

"Aeka, it's time to go."

"No, it's not."

"Aeka, they're closing the bar. We have to go."

"Rubbish!" She turned to look across the bar. "Barkeep! How long're you open?"

The bartender responded as she expected he would.

"We are open so long as her Highness wishes it."

"Hah!" She looked back to Sasami. "See? What did I tell you?"

"But, Sister! Tenchi and Ryoko are ready to leave and Ryo-o-ki is already falling asleep!"

"Then leave with them. I'm staying here."

"But, Sister!"

"Enough! You are dismissed, Sasami."

Sasami's jaw dropped. Her beloved sister had just dismissed her like a household servant!

"Just because you're jealous doesn't mean you can be mean to everybody!"

"I said, you are dismissed."

Sasami's face crunched up into a look of anger and disgust.

"Fine! Stay here and get drunk. See if I care!" She stomped off towards the door, where Tenchi and Ryoko were waiting. Ryo-o-ki, in her small cabbit form, was perched on Ryoko's head, sleeping soundly. Tenchi hesitated to leave when Sasami stormed past him without a word. However, seeing that Azaka and Kamidake were still on guard at the door, he felt assured enough to let her be. Ryoko tugged on his arm, pulling him out the door by brute force. As soon as they were gone, Aeka began talking again.

"Who do they think they are, eh? I'm the First Princess'v Jurai! I c'n stay as long is I want."

"Of course you may, Highness." Serifu politely replied to her statement.

"Right."

Aeka picked up her glass and tilted it up, but nothing came out.

"What's this?" She immediate sent a suspicious glare to her drinking partner. Strangely enough, Serifu seemed to be quite good at holding his liquor. "Did you steal my drink?"

"No, Highness! I would never dare do such a thing."

"Hmph. Very well, then. I'll simply have t'get another. Barkeep!"

Unfortunately, the bartender had bad news.

"I'm very sorry, Highness. But we've run out of that particular selection. May I recommend Artesian Cinnabar? It has a light cinnamon flavor that I think the princess will enjoy."

"Fine, fine. Just fill it up."

The bartender did as he was instructed, filling the tumbler with the brownish substance. Once it was full, Aeka grabbed the glass and took a sip of this new drink to assess its suitability to please what was left of her palate after so much fire-wine. She swished it around her gums few times then swallowed it down.

"It'll do."

There was an awkward silence while both drinkers were thinking of something more to say.

"Well, Serifu? Don't you have anything else you want to say?"

"I would not want to impose."

"Ugh! Hasn't anyone ever told you men with no will are boring? You could at least give me your opinion on something!"

"Hmm..." Serifu held a finger to his lips for a moment. "Ah. I believe your Highness has made an astute choice in attending the Galaxy Academy. The people of Jurai surely recognize it will only benefit them if their future queen continues her education."

Aeka stared into her drink for a while. For a moment, she felt flattered that he thought that of her. But the truth was she had simply been chasing after Tenchi. She shook her head at her own foolishness. Imagine the First Princess of Jurai chasing after some farm-boy like a spring hen.

"If you truly believe that, then you are more of a fool than I am."

Leaning just a bit closer, Serifu clarified his position at a lower volume.

"At least that's what the people will think."

Aeka threw her head back and laughed uproariously.

"Ah ho ho ho ho ho hooaaaah!"

Aeka's laugh turned into a cry of dismay as she fell over backwards. It was lucky for her that someone was watching out for her. Serifu lunged towards her and caught her just before she would have hit the floor.

"Are you all right, Princess?"

Aeka blinked her surprise. She was not quite certain what she should say.

"Um... thank you."

"Do you require assistance, Highness?"

"No. I can manage." Aeka tried to get her feet under her. It was embarrassingly obvious she was utterly plastered by how long it took her to get her balance.

"I do believe I'm drunk."

"It does appear that way, Highness."

Aeka sighed with disgust at her lack of alcoholic tolerance.

"I suppose I should be leaving, or I'll end up passed out in a gutter along the way."

Horrified at such a thought, Serifu immediately objected.

"I would never allow such a thing! I would sooner sleep in a gutter, myself, than allow it! If the princess requires transport, my personal conveyance is at her disposal."

"Really, now? Hmm." Frankly, she did need a ride. It was not like he was going to try something inappropriate. If needed, her guardians would be at hand. In addition, she could personally blast him into the next timezone, if it came to that.

"Very well. I have to take care of some business, first. Have the vehicle brought up."

Aeka turned around and began slowly making her way to the restroom. Serifu stayed carefully attentive until she disappeared into the restroom. Then he turned to the bartender.

"Telephone! Quickly, now!"

The man immediately lifted a telephone into view and set it on the bar. Serifu pick it up and started rifling through his pockets.

"Blast! Where is that number? Ah!" He read the small slip of paper and began punching the number for the valet.

"Yes. Serifu Amaki. Have my vehicle brought to the front immediately. Very good." He hung up the phone receiver just in time to witness Princess Aeka emerge from the restroom. Though she still wobbled badly, her face seemed clearer. She came to a stop directly in front of Serifu.

"I believe I've had enough for tonight."

"Very well, Highness. May I escort you to your residence?"

"You may."

Serifu offered his elbow, which Aeka was very glad to accept for the additional balance it provided. She allowed him to lead her out of the room to his conveyance, which was awaiting them at the dock. The driver was already holding the door open for them. She carefully climbed in first, as was the proper manner, making sure to hold on to anything available so she would not fall again. Serifu followed her into the vehicle and sat a short distance away on the wide rear seat. The door swung shut behind him with a thud. A moment later, the driver entered the vehicle and secured himself in the pilot's seat.

"Destination, sir?"

Serifu directed a questioning gaze at Aeka, who was staring intently out of the side window.

"Princess?"

"The Governor's summer cottage, please."

"Very good, Highness."

The vehicle swept gracefully into the air with nary a wobble to betray their velocity. Aeka tried to keep her eyes on the passing night life below them. But if she looked for too long, her head would begin to spin disturbingly, as if they were flying around in circles. As well, the more her head spun, the more her stomach felt. She tried closing her eyes completely. But that was just as bad, if not worse. Now she had no visual reference for her already faulty sense of balance. Shaking her head to clear the fuzziness, Aeka fixed her gaze on the empty seat cushion in front of her.

"Princess, are you well?"

Aeka took a deep breath, which seemed to help for a moment. But her head soon resumed spinning. With each quasi-rotation of her mind, her stomach did a flip, telling her that not only had she drank too much, she probably would not make the hour and a half ride back to the cottage without emptying her stomach of its contents at least once. She put a hand to her head.

"I... feel ill."

"Oh, dear! That won't do, at all."

Taken aback at the sudden turn of events, Serifu jabbed the driver call button.

"Driver! To the Governor's mansion, immediately!"

"Yes, sir."

Serifu sat back again. There was little he could do if Aeka choose to get sick in the back of the vehicle. So he tried to act nonchalant about the issue.

"I hope I'm not being too presumptuous, Princess."

"It's fine." There was a short pause as Aeka collected herself. "I apologize for the inconvenience. You would think I had built up some tolerance to alcohol, what with all the drinking that woman Ryoko imposes upon me. Not that I'm an alcoholic or anything."

"No, of course not."

"Well, what does it matter, anyway? I've already embarrassed myself twice today. What will one more time hurt?"

"I think her highness has been acting quite lady-like."

Looking down at the tips of her slippers which were peeking out from under the hem of her dress, she allowed herself a sardonic smile.

"You're just saying that because I'm the First Princess."

"No, Highness. I assure you I have always considered the Princess to be a Lady of standing, deserving of all the rights and privileges due her station."

"Oh, yes. I am such a lady. I only ran out of Asahi and Gohgei's wedding. I went and got drunk at the reception, and now I'm going to your residence so I can pay homage to the porcelain god! All quite lady-like."

Serifu stared at her in confusion.

"Porcelain god?"

"The toilet."

"Oh. Oh, I see! Heh. Quite funny." Serifu chuckled to himself for a moment.

"Are we there yet?"

"Nearly there, Princess."

Aeka sat back into the seat cushion, abandoning the window and its environs for another time when she could better appreciate the view. Her eyes slowly slipped shut. For a little while, she managed to ignore the spinning in her head, and got a bit of rest. When the vehicle came to a halt, she found it that much more difficult to open them. She dreaded so much as lifting an eyelid for how much she would pay for it later when she closed them again.

"We've arrived, Princess."

"Very well."

"Do you require assistance exiting, Princess?"

"I can manage."

Serifu quickly got out. Then he turned back to the door and offered Aeka his hand.

"Princess?"

Reluctantly, Aeka opened her eyes and carefully made her way to the door. Holding tightly to the door frame, she somehow managed to make it to her feet by pulling hard. When she noticed Serifu's outstretched hand, she took not just the hand, but the entire arm for balance. She wanted nothing more than to just go to bed. But the spinning and churning would not allow her to relax for more than a few moments at a time.

"Driver, run ahead and tell the staff to prepare a room for her highness, at once."

"Yes, sir!"

The driver ran into the mansion and began relaying the instructions to the first person he found. The formally dressed staff member then ran off to summon assistance, freeing the driver to return and park the vehicle. Serifu tossed the man a large coin as he passed.

"You are dismissed."

"Thank you, sir!"

The excited driver quickly got back into the driver's seat of the vehicle and took off for the garage. Aeka tried to keep up with Serifu, but her feet did not want to cooperate. After nearly stumbling twice, she was forced to ask Serifu to slow down.

"Walk slower, please."

"Of course, Princess. Forgive me." Serifu slowed to half his previous pace, allowing Aeka an easier time of it. "I've taken the liberty of having a room prepared."

Aeka had little to say to that. While her leaving with Serifu would probably cause a stir, it was not scandalous or improper. He was simply looking after her needs as was appropriate. Quite frankly, she wanted the room. Besides the effects of all the alcohol she had consumed this evening, she was tired of seeing Tenchi and Ryoko so obviously in love. She could respect his wishes about that, but that did not mean she agreed to be subjected to constant reminders of her loss. Then again, she had insisted on attending the Academy with them.

"I'm such a fool."

Serifu looked at Aeka's face as they entered the immense residence.

"Princess?"

"Tell me, Serifu. Were you disappointed when I insisted on remaining with Lord Tenchi?"

Serifu remained silent for a moment as he contemplated how to answer such a question. He had not expected Aeka to take interest in that episode in this manner. He decided his answer would have to be very carefully crafted.

"At first, I was quite surprised. I thought the arrangement equitable for everyone involved. I initially felt certain that the young man must have been exercising some sort of mental control on her Highness."

"Certainly not!"

"I realize that now. If the Princess will forgive me for saying so, no one is perfect when it comes to matters of the heart."

Aeka was surprised by Serifu's seemingly very understanding answer. It was the kind of answer she might have expected from a kind and sensitive person, not a child of the imperial court. Perhaps her father had not made such a poor arrangement, after all. Serifu was behaving very much like a gentleman this evening. Even so much as to take care of her arrangements when he realized she was too inebriated to function on her own.

One of the house staff approached them, and gave them a report on the progress of Aeka's room.

"Highness, my Lord. The Princess's room is nearly ready. If they would follow me?"

"Very well." Serifu prompted the black and white dressed butler. He took a step forward, urging Aeka to follow along. For a split-second, the movement did not register in her mind, and she tilted forward. Realizing she was about to fall again, she clutched his arm and stepped forward, averting certain disaster. Aeka sighed, disgusted with herself.

As they followed the butler deeper into the mansion, Aeka reflected on her behavior this evening. Here she was, allowing a man to escort her to her rooms after she had become too drunk to see straight. She could have insisted on a less controversial escort, like her guardians, who were dutifully following a little way behind her. Azaka and Kamidake would never make demands of her. But then again, she could not very well marry one of them. She also preferred more lively company in a future husband. Preferably Tenchi. For a moment, Aeka fancied it was Tenchi who was escorting her to her room, where they would spend the night together in blissful love. Then she remembered Ryoko was the one Tenchi had chosen to take to his bed.

There then was the core of the matter. Aeka had come to know that young man very well since they had met. She knew in her heart that Tenchi would be loyal to the end to whomever he chose as his life's-mate. Ryoko had won his heart, not her.

Aeka ignored the butler as she passed into her room on Serifu's arm. She clutched at the warm limb as hot tears threatened to overflow the bounds of her eyelids and spill onto her fair skin. Her chest involuntarily contracted, forcing a groan of agony from her throat. Serifu looked down at her in concern.

"Princess?"

It was then that her beleaguered stomach finally signaled its imminent betrayal. She slapped a hand over her mouth and began looking frantically back and forth for the restroom.

"Toilet..." She mumbled through her hand. Spotting the open doorway on the other side of the room she released her grip on Serifu's arm and stumbled across the room until she reached the deity of all things gross and disgusting. Someone thoughtfully closed the door behind her just in time to allow her the small dignity of privacy as she offered up the contents of her stomach to the waiting water.

_"Oh, how low I've fallen."_

For a moment, as she gazed into the smelly depths of her drunkenness, Aeka wondered what Ryoko would say if she saw the First Princess of Jurai in such a state. She was unable to decide before her stomach convulsed again, dismissing the thought from her mind. Trickling tears soon joined the miasma of rejected alcohol, saliva, and stomach acid.

Serifu paced back and forth outside the door to the restroom, while Aeka's guardians impassively stood guard on either side. They had not uttered so much as a word all evening. Serifu had no doubt that they would remain silent about everything that happened this evening, unless questioned directly by the King. Even so, he was not about to give them something to talk about, just in case.

The sounds of Aeka emptying her stomach on the other side of the door were unmistakable. The gut-wrenching noise persisted for only a few minutes. The silence afterwards lasted much longer. Serifu was seriously considering entering to check on her safety, when he heard the toilet flush. He breathed a sigh of relief. He had begun to suspect Aeka had passed-out on the floor. The sound of flowing water continued as the toilet refilled, indicating the sink was running. For several minutes the water ran.

Eventually, the water stopped, and the door opened, revealing Aeka leaning her shoulder against the door frame. She looked utterly drained of all feeling and emotions. Her eyes, once so lively and intense, stared blankly at the floor. She briefly glanced at him, then called weakly to her guardians.

"Azaka, Kamidake."

"Yes, Princess?" They answered at the same time.

"You are dismissed for the night."

"Very well."

Serifu's right eyebrow went up as the pair of log-like machines quickly faded from view. This was an unexpected development. If the princess had decided she desired him for a romp under the bedsheets, he would be happy to oblige her. But even he had his standards, no matter who was asking. Quite frankly, Aeka was a disgusting mess. Her festive gown had spots of vomit on it, and she stank. The drunken lady raised a limp arm towards him.

"Attend me."

Serifu hesitated before taking the outstretched hand.

"As you wish, Princess."

The barest hint of a grin twisted one corner of Aeka's lips.

"Don't think too highly of yourself. I've got a really bad headache."

Serifu's eyes went wide at Aeka's self-directed jibe. He then smiled a bit. Her command suddenly made much more sense. He was to attend her in the ritualistic sense, rather than an intimate one. She simply wanted assistance preparing for rest. That, he would gladly do. He carefully guided the First Princess to the bourdoire on the far side of the bed, where she could sit. But, instead of sitting, she remained standing.

"My kimono first, please."

"Very well, highness."

Serifu made quick work of the outer garment. The bow which was wrapped around the princess's waist and held the smelly thing around her was simply tied, and required little effort to undo. Once the kimono was loose, Aeka shrugged it over her shoulders, letting it fall into Serifu's waiting hands.

"I'll have the servants launder it for the morning, Princess."

"Very well." Aeka answered with her head down as Serifu set the soiled garment aside on the back of a nearby chair. He quickly returned, this time facing Aeka's front. The second kimono was a thin under-garment that served to keep the outer garment from chaffing against the skin. It was held about the person at the waist by a small corset, rather than an elaborate sash. Simple silk strings tied in a granny knot kept it tight. He pulled on one of the strings, and the knot came apart. The entire corset slipped from Aeka's waist and hung in Serifu's hand. Her kimono draped loosely over her shoulders, allowing Serifu to see a long vertical portion of the one-piece undergarment she was wearing. Being a gentleman, he ignored the view as best he could and set the corset on the table adjacent to the chair where the first garment was located. Moving back to his original position behind Aeka, he carefully slipped his fingers between Aeka's shoulders and the soft material and pulled it around her shoulders. In order to clear the garment from her arms he had to stoop to lower it past her hands. As he crouched down, he got a close look at her very feminine curves. Although, her more private regions were covered by the cloth which hung down in front and back.

The task of attending the First Princess suddenly became much more difficult. He had always wondered why such a beautiful woman would wish to hide her beauty under so much clothing. Now he knew it was to keep men from becoming instantly enamored of her curvaceous form. As he stood folding the garment, he sighed with longing.

"Is something the matter?"

Now he had done it. The princess had asked him a question that he would have to answer. Fortunately, it was easy to avoid implicating himself. He uncovered his mouth so he could give his answer.

"No, Princess. Everything is fine."

"Come, Lord Serifu. I recognize a sigh of longing when I hear one. Would I not be unworthy of my position as First Princess if men did not sigh at the very sight of me?"

Serifu thought carefully as he slowly moved to the table with Aeka's other garments on or near it. He set the kimono down, and then turned to face Aeka. He bowed deeply in apology.

"Princess, please accept my humble apologies for the affront I have caused you. Men are by nature lustful animals. I am unworthy of such beauty."

Aeka finally raised her eyes so she could look at Serifu bent over in front of her. Her plain expression warmed just a bit as she digested the compliment he had just paid her. Sitting down in the chair in front of the bourdoire, she looked into the mirror. She really did look a mess.

"Apology accepted. You may continue."

Serifu breathed a sigh of relief as he straightened. He saw that Aeka was already seated in the chair with her hands in her lap.

"Shall I tend the princess's hair, next?"

"Yes." Aeka gratefully answered the question. She loved having her hair brushed. Many nights had come and gone when she had imagined Tenchi brushing her hair as she sat in front of a mirror. It was not an activity held in exclusive reserve for the one she loved. She had servants who could do this, or sometimes her mother would brush her hair. Once, she had even gotten her father to do it when she was young. It made her feel peaceful and calm. Serifu slid the small bands that separated her hair into two braids, the length of the strands, removing them. He reached past her and took the brush that sat before the mirror and began brushing out her long braids.

"Princess, may I ask a question?"

"You may."

"As I recall, the hair used to be of a lighter shade. May I ask what caused her highness to change it?"

Aeka did not answer right away. There was another question of her own devising that she had been considering all evening. She was wondering what Serifu's game was. All night her mind had danced around the subject, carefully weighing his words and actions until she was completely befuddled. Even now, Serifu was acting completely honorable in his intentions. He had willingly admitted he felt lustful while looking at her body, even begging her forgiveness. His apology had sounded sincere, so she forgave him. Now he was asking thoughtful questions, as if he were trying to get to know her better.

"I wished to impress my brother."

"Ahh. It is, of course, a lady's prerogative to make herself up so as to impress her future husband."

"Tsk. It was a miserable failure. I was just too young to realize it. Yosho barely took notice, and I made my poor mother cry."

Serifu began working the second braid loose.

"I apologize, Princess, if I have brought back unpleasant memories."

"No. I have since found that I like my hair the way it is, now."

"Her highness is truly blessed to possess such beauty."

Aeka's face colored a bit with embarrassment.

"Thank you, Lord Serifu, for everything you've done for me this evening. I... I apologize for embarrassing you in front of my father when he brought you to Earth. If I can ever repay the kindness you've shown me this evening, you must tell me."

All was quiet as Serifu began brushing the hair higher on her scalp.

"There is one thing, Princess. One thing that I believe would be more beneficial to her highness than to any other. I would humbly suggest that the princess reopen her marriage candidacy."

Aeka's first impulse was to dismiss his suggestion as out of hand. What was the point if she was already in love with Tenchi? Then she remembered that he had chosen Ryoko, and that there was no point in delaying the inevitable. Someday, she would have to marry. It was her duty, and she intended to fulfill that duty. But that did not mean she had to settle for less than the best.

Right off, Aeka had been able to see that Tenchi was someone extraordinary. He was a strong and caring provider, willing to go to any length to protect his family. Aeka could feel the desire for a family of her own burning within her soul. She dearly wanted Tenchi to be her husband and father to her children. But it was not to be. Pain sliced into her heart, making her chest ache, once more. There was no longer a choice. Ryoko had taken that from her. But she could find no malice in her heart for that pitiful girl. Aeka knew Ryoko's true heart of hearts. Killing Tenchi would be nothing next to taking him from her. The depth of Ryoko's love for Tenchi was unfathomable. Aeka had no words to describe it, other than it made her love look like a childish crush on a handsome school teacher. Aeka let her head hang back as she considered Serifu's request. She whispered to herself as she stared at the ceiling.

"I have no choice..."

"Princess?"

After having spoken to Serifu, and having gotten to know him better, Aeka could not deny her father had made a wise choice. She could do much worse than this man, who seemed genuinely concerned for her. But she could not yet let go of her feelings for Tenchi. She needed some time away before she could make such a decision. Still, Serifu deserved some kind of answer. Aeka righted her head and looked at Serifu's reflection in the mirror before her.

"I will consider it."

"Of course, Princess."

Aeka closed her eyes so she could more fully enjoy having her hair brushed. She found her eyelids were growing very heavy. Her head still hurt something fierce, and she wanted nothing more now than to shut out everything and sink into oblivion. Then all the pain would go away.

Serifu carefully ran the brush through the princess's long tresses once more before proclaiming her was finished.

"Princess, shall I search the wardrobe for appropriate night wear?"

There was no response from the sleepy princess.

"Princess?"

Serifu leaned forward so he could see Aeka's face. Somehow, she had managed to fall asleep in an upright position. Her eyes were closed, her mouth gaped, and her breathing was slow and regular.

"Oh, dear. Now what?" Serifu considered his position for a moment. "Well, I can't very well leave her highness like this. I suppose I should finish."

Aeka awoke late the next morning in a strange bed, in a strange room, with a horrible hangover. She rolled over with a groan as she tried to remember how she had gotten in to bed. She could remember asking Serifu to attend her last night, but not how she had ended-up in bed. Mentally replaying last night's rather unusual activities, she realized the memories stopped sometime after she had said she would consider reopening her marriage candidacy.

_"I can't believe I said that."_

Aeka rolled over again so she could yell for her guardians. As she turned, she felt something amiss. Lifting up the blanket, she saw that she was completely naked.

"Eee!"

A horrible thought suddenly came to mind. Aeka placed a hand between her legs. When she found everything as she remembered it, she sighed in relief.

_"Of course not. That would be utterly insane. He did exactly as I instructed him, right to the conclusion of that silly ritual. What was I thinking?"_

Aeka inhaled deeply.

"Azaka! Ohh... my head..."

She instantly regretted yelling so loud, even though it had the intended effect. As she had only managed to call for Azaka before her throbbing head protested the verbal assault, only Azaka appeared. Kamidake remained out of sight.

"Yes, Princess?"

"Bring me an aspirin and water."

"Yes, Princess."

"And have a bath drawn for me."

"Yes, Princess."

"Oh. What time is it?"

"It is nine seventeen in the morning, Highness."

Aeka sat straight up with a cry of dismay, followed by another groan. The blanket fell to her waist, revealing her bare chest.

"Oh... God, my head..."

A small teardrop appeared next to Azaka's optical sensory apparatus.

Five minutes after noon, a strange antigravity vehicle pulled into the grass yard in front of the Governor's summer cottage, escorted by two guardians of Jurai. The driver immediately got out and opened the back door to the vehicle as Tenchi, Ryoko, Sasami, and Ryo-o-ki watched from the living room windows. Their eyes stayed on Aeka as she entered the house in plain view, even as the vehicle disappeared from whence it had come. She did not stop until she reached the middle of the front room.

"Oh, very well. Ask away. I know your curiosity won't be satisfied until I've been thoroughly embarrassed in front of everyone."

Ryoko suddenly appeared at her side. The golden-eyed vixen wrapped a friendly arm around Aeka's shoulders.

"Congratulations, Aeka! You finally got laid! How do you feel?"

"Disgusting creature!" Aeka pushed Ryoko away before settling the full power of her hateful gaze on her. "How dare you speak of such things in front of my sister?"

"Hey, don't blame me! You're the one who got drunk, then went home with a guy."

Aeka shouted in Ryoko's face, the force of her vocal assault made Ryoko's hair stream and snap in the air.

"I am not a woman of loose morals!"

"Yeah, whatever. You still went home with him. Call it what you like. But I'll bet you weren't complaining while he had you bent over the end of his bed."

Smack!

Ryoko's head snapped to the right from the force of Aeka's slap.

"Perhaps that will still your filthy tongue."

Ryoko slowly returned her face to the front. Despite the insult, she was still smiling.

"Touchy, eh? Well, you know what I think? I think you did it to make Tenchi jealous. But it won't work! He chose me, not you. So get over it!"

Aeka raised her hand to slap Ryoko again. However, the words issuing from the television were of sufficient import to attract her attention. Normally, the playing of the television would not have distracted her. But as they were talking about her, she felt it was important enough to postpone the punishment. The others also turned their attention to the news reporter as he detailed his account.

"...working on an anonymous tip, our reporter has confirmed that First Princess Aeka did indeed spend the night in the company of Serifu Amaki. What actually occurred while they were alone is unknown at this time. However, he have a reporter standing by with his Lordship as we speak."

The scene shifted to the front of the Governor's mansion, where a curly-haired female reporter with a microphone in her hand was standing next to Serifu.

"Thanks, John. I'm here with Lord Serifu Amaki, who has agreed to a brief interview. Tell us Lord Serifu, did the First Princess stay the night here?"

"That is correct."

"Why is that?"

"The princess was feeling ill. In the interests of her Highness's health, I had the driver divert the vehicle here."

"I see. And how did you and the princess end up in the same vehicle? I understand you arrived separately."

"The Princess elected to stay at the reception longer than her companions desired. When I found she required transportation, I offered, as any good citizen of the empire would have done in my place."

"So your intentions were honorable?"

"Completely."

"Did anything happen between the two of you last night?"

"If something had happened, I would not speak of it publicly."

"What of the rumor that the First Princess's chosen suitor defeated you in single combat? Can you comment on that?"

"It's true. I was defeated in honorable combat against the princess's chosen suitor."

The news anchorman, Steve, suddenly broke in on the conversation. The screen split in two showing both sides of the conversation.

"Excuse me for a moment, Vanessa. I've just received word that this chosen suitor of the princess's is one Tenchi Masaki, a descendant of Yosho Masaki, and a legitimate heir to the throne of Jurai. Our caller, who wishes to remain anonymous, also says that same Tenchi Masaki was seen dancing intimately with another woman at the same reception you and the princess attended. Is this true?"

"Alas, it is true. The young man has foolishly squandered the princess's love for the favor of a common woman. No insult intended, Vanessa."

"None taken, Lord Amaki. But if this is true, what does this bode for the princess's search for a husband?"

"The princess has personally assured me that she is considering reopening her marriage candidacy."

"If she does, will you compete?"

"Absolutely. As before, I will defeat my opponents, no matter how numerous they are. Once I have won, I will marry the Princess. I can only hope I will be a worthy husband."

Vanessa turned her attention to the camera.

"Well, this seems to bode well for the future of Jurai, Steve."

"Indeed it does, Vanessa."

An entire sofa suddenly smashed into the television, destroying it in dramatic fashion. Sparks and bits of plastic jumped as the broken set was compacted between the sofa and far wall. All eyes were on Aeka again as she steamed and raged at the report.

"That vile, slithering, snake! How dare he! And I was actually considering it! Well, I have your answer, Lord Snake! **NEVER!**"

The others stared at Aeka as she fumed.

"Is there a problem?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Very well, then. I'm going to make some tea. Sasami, would you come with me, please?"

"Uh, okay."

Sasami followed her sister towards the kitchen as Aeka made her requirements clearer.

"Sasami, what kind of tea is good for a headache?"

"Oh, you've got a hangover, huh?"

"You don't know the half of it."

Tenchi, Ryoko, and Ryo-o-ki watched as Aeka and Sasami walked off without a backward glance. Ryoko idly rubbed her cheek where Aeka had slapped her.

"What just happened?"

Tenchi just stared at Aeka's retreating form.

"Not a clue."

END.

AFTERWORD: I have to admit, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. The second half was fun. But the part with Aeka and Misaki talking about guys in the limo cracked me up! "Vitamins" HA!

I happened to notice a major discrepancy in the material Hitoshi Okuda presented in the manga, and the material presented in the True Tenchi novels. According to the manga, Aeka knew Asahi from her childhood. However, since the TTNs specifically show that Juraians mature from children to adults at the same rate as humans, it would be impossible for Asahi to still be so young after 700 years.

I have no intention of trying to explain away such a paradox. I'm afraid I must impose on everyone's sense of fantasy and ask that the readers simply ignore the problem, as I have. Perhaps someone with greater skill than I in written Japanese could write to Mr. Okuda and ask how this is possible.


	19. Summer Break!

****

INVASION, Volume 3, Part 3: Summer Break!

DISCLAIMER: TENCHI MUYOU! is copyright AIC/Pioneer, LDC. I claim no rights to it. However, the events depicted within this story are entirely of my own imagination. So please do not change it. Feel free to distribute as widely as desired.

FOREWORD: Let's get something out right now. This chapter was originally VERY lemony. However, the events here are an important part of the development of the characters, and a very important plot event occurs here. So, I did a bunch of editing to make it fit the 'R' rating. I most definitely will make the original, unedited version available in the future. I hope I did a good enough job so that everyone understands what has occurred in the edited scenes without my having had to go into detail. Again, there is a reason for this ~~_steamy_~~ chapter.

AUTHOR: Dreamr

LAST REVISION: 13 December 2002

EMAIL: TrueDreamr@Hotmail.com

BEGIN.

Aeka carefully surveyed her selection of bathing suits. There were several suits of varying cuts and designs. Most were in earth-tones or matched her hair. All were one-piece and inappropriate for sun-bathing. Outside, the sun shone down brightly from the clear blue sky, promising a beautiful day ahead.

Asahi and Gohgei had already left for their honeymoon, leaving their guests the run of the cottage. Washu had also returned to her lab, although she had installed a temporary portal to her lab through an infrequently used closet on the first floor. Mihoshi had returned to Earth to return to her duties as a Galaxy Police Detective, and Tenchi's father had to go back to work, as well. The two of them returned via the temporary portal through Washu's lab, leaving Tenchi, Ryoko, Sasami, Ryo-o-ki, and herself to vacation on Ryuten until Ryu-o was returned to an operational status.

Now that she was on vacation, it was time to relax. Aeka could think of no better way than to lie in the sun and get a beautiful tan. Digging further through her belongings she managed to find a single two-piece bathing suit.

"Goodness! This is rather skimpy." Aeka examined the two-piece suit she had acquired from her mother just prior to leaving Jurai to search for her brother. But, she had to admit, it was a good selection. It was the same color as her eyes, with trim to match her hair.

"I hope it fits." Aeka murmured as she went behind the changing screen in the corner of the room. Quickly removing her more traditional kimono and under clothes, she tried on the suit.

As she thought, it was a bit small. It was somewhat tight about her hips, but the waist material was elastic and stretched with her. However, the rest was not and rode a bit lower than she liked. Still, she was planning to go outside and deliberately expose her skin, so the low waistband was acceptable.

The top was a different story. Aeka ran the strap adjustments all the way out before even trying it on. Getting it on was a chore. She had to strain her arms behind her back to get the ends of the back strap to meet. Looking into the mirror before her, Aeka could see that the top barely fit. Her breasts were pressed tightly enough against her chest that they actually appeared larger than was normal. Aeka turned sideways and examined herself, trying to determine if she were showing too much.

"It's certainly not as much as Ryoko shows of herself, that hussy. And if Lord Tenchi were to see me like this..." Aeka contemplated Tenchi's probable reaction for a moment, and then compared it to how she would like him to react. She closed her eyes, imagining what it would be like if, just once, Tenchi were to kiss her. Aeka found herself growing very excited at the thought of Tenchi's soft lips against hers. With regret, she banished the fantasy by opening her eyes. The first sight that greeted her was that of her firm nipples clearly showing through her suit. Aeka wrapped her arms over her chest and began cursing herself for her selfish, perverted fantasy.

"Oh, my God! You silly goose! Lord Tenchi has chosen someone else and you know it. So stop that!" Quickly refocusing on her original intentions, Aeka set to gathering the things she wished to take outside.

As soon as Aeka cleared the front door of the cottage, she regretted her decision to go out today. Already, in the middle of the yard, Ryoko was lying face-down on an identical lawn chair in what could only be described as a G-string bikini. To one side, an empty sake bottle lay on the ground. On the other side was an icebox with who-knew-what concealed within.

Aeka released the screen door, which slapped against the door-frame, alerting Ryoko to her presence. The cyan-haired woman lifted her head to see who was coming outside.

"Hey, Aeka! Come join me, won't you?" Ryoko waved Aeka over.

Aeka grimaced, then reluctantly walked over to the same area Ryoko occupied.

"Good morning, Miss Ryoko." She coolly greeted. "Something very important must have happened for you to be awake this early."

Ryoko stretched out on her lawn chair with a content smile.

"It's such a great day, I felt like catching some rays."

"I see you caught some sake, as well."

"I'm not drunk." Ryoko was quick to point out.

"Thank goodness for small favors." Aeka muttered as she turned away from Ryoko to begin setting up her possessions.

"What are you doing wearing that?" Ryoko disapprovingly asked from behind Aeka.

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"It looks like you going to get massive tan-lines."

"Well, that can't be helped, since I am wearing a bathing suit." Aeka smartly remarked.

"So take it off."

Aeka stood straight up, mortified at Ryoko's insane idea.

"I will not! I am a princess and, unlike you, I do not expose myself in public."

Ryoko began to grin. She was getting better at hiding when she teased Aeka, which made it even more fun for her. But sometimes she just could not contain herself.

"I bet Tenchi would like to see you naked."

Aeka stared coldly at Ryoko. She refused to be baited again, no matter what the provocation.

"Do you enjoy tormenting me, Ryoko?" Aeka turned back to her lawn chair and began dragging it further from Ryoko. As she was moving away, she suddenly felt a very strong arm circle around her stomach.

"Release me this instant, you demon-beast-thing!"

"Hey, Tenchi!" Ryoko yelled to the house. "Come here! I want to show you something!" She held tightly onto Aeka to keep her from escaping.

A moment later, Tenchi stuck his head out the kitchen window.

"What's up?" When he saw Aeka struggling in Ryoko's grasp, he assumed the worst. "Don't tell me you two are fighting again?"

Aeka yelled across the yard for Tenchi's assistance.

"Lord Tenchi, would you please call off your attack dog?"

"Ryoko, please let Aeka go." Tenchi asked.

"Sure. Sure. Just answer this question. Will Aeka get tan lines wearing this outfit?"

Tenchi stared at the girls in confusion.

"I guess."

Ryoko released Aeka. She spun around and spat fire at her tormentor.

"How DARE you! You... you... mummified...", veins bulged from Aeka's forehead, "she-devil!"

"Ryoko." Tenchi called to the girls again. "Unless I'm mistaken, you're both going to get tan-lines. So, I don't see what you're teasing Aeka about."

"What?!"

Ryoko looked at Tenchi with utter astonishment on her face as he withdrew his head through the window frame. Aeka, of course, began to laugh. However, Ryoko was not paying attention to Aeka. She was still looking at Tenchi through the kitchen window as he went about his business at the sink. Because Aeka had had her back to Tenchi, she had not seen the way he had looked her up and down before answering. But Ryoko had seen. Her cheeks puffed out as jealousy coursed through her veins.

Ryoko looked at Aeka's suit more carefully. She understood it was a two-piece for sun-bathing and had no problem with that. But now that she was really looking, she could also see it was too small for a grown woman's curves. Ryoko slipped two fingers into the rear of Aeka's suit bottom and pulled upwards, gauging its tightness by the princess's reaction.

Aeka gasped loudly. Ryoko grinned again and stepped back just in time to avoid Aeka as she spun around. The back of Aeka's right fist just missed the end of her nose.

"Don't you ever do that again!" Aeka warned her.

"So tell me, Princess. You've had that swim-suit for quite a while, haven't you?" Ryoko slyly pointed out, making Aeka's eyes narrow with suspicion.

"So what if I have?"

"Heh. Just asking." Ryoko suddenly switched tracks. "I'll tell you what. I won't tell Tenchi you just tried to hit me, if you'll sun-bath with me."

Aeka looked mortified. She had acted without thinking when she felt Ryoko pull on the bottom of her suit, and now it was costing her. In a quieter voice, she asked for more details concerning what Ryoko wanted in exchange for her silence.

"What do mean by 'with' you?"

Ryoko stared at her for a moment, then laughed uproariously.

"Bwah, ha-ha-ha-ha! You perv! Ha-ha-ha-ha! Oh! I just mean there's a nice private clearing in the woods where we can go and not worry about tan-lines."

Somewhat relieved, but still not satisfied with the conditions, Aeka told Ryoko what she thought of the idea.

"I refuse to expose myself in public, no matter what you tell Lord Tenchi."

Ryoko slung a chummy arm around Aeka's shoulders, making the princess grimace.

"Oh, come on, Aeka. It's just like taking a bath together, only without water! And I said it was private."

"If I go, do you promise not to tell Lord Tenchi?"

"Not a peep."

"Very well." Aeka reluctantly agreed.

_"I can't believe I'm doing this."_

"Man, what is up with those girls?" Tenchi grumbled as he cut slices of ham for his lunch. Nearby were the fixings for the rest of his box-lunch, which he intended to take with him on his hike through the foothills. At the stove, Sasami was browning some rice, in which the meat would soon be mixed.

"They are silly, aren't they?"

Tenchi sighed.

"I don't think silly is strong enough of a word."

"What word were you thinking of?"

As Tenchi peeked out of the window to see Aeka and Ryoko packing their things, he continued to slice into the block of ham, paying little attention to what he was doing with the ultra-sharp butcher knife. With a mischievous glint in her eye, Sasami picked up a squeeze bottle of red-wasabi and stealthily squirted a bit of it on his fingers. Without a sound, she stashed it in her sleeve, then looked away.

"Tenchi, don't you think you should be watching what you're doing?"

"Huh?" Tenchi looked down and saw red all over his fingers. His eyes went wide, and he shivered as he stared at his fingers. Then his eyes rolled and he passed out. Sasami immediately began laughing like crazy.

Aeka glanced briefly to her left. Ryoko lay sprawled out on her lawn chair without a stitch of clothing covering her. She appeared to be asleep. Looking at her own bare body, Aeka compared herself to the rejuvenated demon.

Ryoko had larger breasts than her. Aeka was fairly certain she had reached her adult size and was not expecting any further significant growth. On the plus column, Aeka felt her hips were just a bit wider. In her mind, it meant she was more suitable for bearing a future heir to the throne of Jurai. Aeka was looking for an attribute she possessed that would break the tie in her favor, when Ryoko spoke up.

"Whatcha lookin' at?"

Aeka quickly made up an excuse.

"Washu must have been crazy to create a woman with such ridiculously large breasts. A woman must possess more than eye-candy to rear her children."

"Au contraire." Ryoko countered. "Washu says my breasts are the perfect size for feeding a baby. Unlike you, any kids I have won't go hungry. Besides, you have to attract a man before you can start having his kids." Ryoko smiled as she came up with a cute pun. "Big boobs are a big help."

"Pervert."

"Oh? Do I stare at your naked body? No. You're the one who's staring, Princess." Ryoko started cackling at Aeka's embarrassment. "Heh. Maybe you're considering a lifestyle change, eh?"

"I am not a lesbian!"

"Well, you don't seem to have much luck with men. You might want to think about it. I might even show you a good time if you treat me right." She flashed Aeka a very suggestive smile.

"You are disgusting!"

"Ha-hah-ha! Relax! I'm just kidding!"

Aeka returned her attention to her book.

"You are not funny."

Ryoko laid back and closed her eyes, humming contentedly to herself while the hot sun beat down on her bare skin. Although she liked thinking she was getting a tan, the fact was her skin never darkened due to solar exposure. She supposed it was a defense mechanism against sunburns. At least it felt warm.

A few minutes later she heard something moving in the woods. She stopped humming so she could better hear whatever it was. Thanks to her excellent hearing, she could just make out tentative foot steps. She rolled her head over and looked into the woods through half-open eyes. Peering from between two branches was Tenchi.

She decided to give her man a show. She set her feet on the ground on opposite sides of the lawn chair so Tenchi could see what she had to offer him. Tenchi looked at her for a few seconds more, then shifted his gaze to Aeka. Ryoko nearly leapt from her chair. She could not believe he was looking at Aeka instead of her.

_"I show him my best parts, and he just looks away? And why does he keep looking at her? What does she have that I don't?"_

Ryoko looked over at Aeka, trying to see what Tenchi found so interesting about her.

"Now who's staring?" Aeka mentioned off-hand.

Ryoko averted her gaze, directing it back into the woods instead. Tenchi was gone, but she could make out footsteps receding into the distance. She began worrying that maybe it was Tenchi who wanted a change in lifestyle. One not quite so drastic as what she had proposed to Aeka. Perhaps a change in girlfriends.

Ryoko lay on the cottage roof, letting the late afternoon sun keep her warm. She had her swim suit on again, as opposed to her earlier nudity in the woods. It was still hot and she felt stupid wearing other clothes over her suit, so she had stayed this way the entire day. Aeka had left their supposedly private clearing shortly before noon, claiming the intensifying sun was beginning to burn her pale skin.

Ryoko soon grew bored with no one to talk to, and returned to the cottage. She watched TV for a while, then finally vacated the couch for the roof again. Now she sat looking into the blue of Ryuten's atmosphere, worrying about Tenchi. She had no clue what to do about Tenchi's apparent growing attraction to Aeka.

The only person she ever asked advice from was Washu, and even that small trust was newly won. Washu had said that if she had any personal problems she should talk to her about it. Ryoko thought Washu was referring to having problems in bed with Tenchi. This wasn't quite that kind of problem, but it was definitely a personal problem.

"Okay, MOM. Let's see if the shoe fits." Ryoko relaxed her block on the mental link with Washu.

_"Washu!"_

"Well," Washu greeted her, _"the prodigal daughter finally calls home! You aren't by any chance looking for a pregnancy test, are you?"_

Ryoko groaned. Not a day went by that Washu did not ask for grandchildren.

_"No. The way things are going, we won't have to worry about that."_

"Uh-oh. Sounds like trouble."

"Tenchi keeps looking at Aeka."

"What do you mean?"

"You know. He looks. He really looks."

"So?"

"He looks..." Ryoko sighed. _"It's like this. Aeka and I were sun-bathing nude."_

"Wow! How'd you get her to do that?"

"Extortion. Will you just listen?"

"Okay, okay. I'm listening."

"Anyway, Tenchi found us."

"Bet that was interesting."

Ryoko paused for a minute to catch her mental breath.

_"What happened then?" _Washu prompted.

_"I opened my legs for him and he looked at AEKA!"_

"D'oh!" Washu fell out of her lab chair.

_"What do you mean 'Do'h!'?"_

Washu climbed back into her seat.

_"Relax, girl! Tenchi's probably just feeling more confident now. I'll bet he's curious about sex with other women and wants someone to compare you with!"_

"What's to compare?"

"In Tenchi's mind, everything."

Ryoko sat up. Her gaze fell upon the far end of the cottage roof.

__

"I... don't want to lose him to someone else."

"Like I said, relax. You've got thousands of years of experience. I doubt there's anybody that could take Tenchi from you. Just try to keep an open mind. Who knows? Maybe he'd like a threesome with you and Aeka."

"No way. Tenchi would never go for that."

"Have you asked?"

"No."

"So how do you know?" Washu paused, even though she did not expect a reply. _"Well, you're probably right. That's not really Tenchi's style. But I still think he's curious. He knows Aeka has strong feelings for him, and she's available. What guy wouldn't want to have sex with a beautiful princess?"_

"I can't afford to take that chance. I..." Ryoko got a bit choked up just thinking about it.

_"It's okay. Just talk to him about it. I'm sure he'll tell you he loves you more than anyone and that he'll never leave you. And he'll mean it. That's a lot more than some girls find. Hell, even I didn't do that well."_

Ryoko felt a bit better having talked to someone. She could get used to this mother/daughter thing.

_"Thanks, Mom."_ Ryoko felt warm feelings coming through the link.

_"Anytime, dear. Anytime."_

Ryoko was not sure how to talk to Tenchi about something like swinging. Realistically, that was what it was. After talking to Washu, she had given the idea some thought. She had pretty much decided she was okay with the idea of Tenchi doing it with Aeka if he wanted someone to compare her with. It would only make him realize just how good he had it with her. There was no way Aeka could compare to her. However, talking to Tenchi about it was easier said than done.

At first, she resolved to talk to him after dinner. She ended up doing the dishes. After they went to bed, she tried again. But Tenchi had his mind set on something else. She was loathe to deny him that. So they made love instead of talking. It was not until well after that, as she lay against his chest, that she remembered about it again.

"Tenchi?"

"Mmm?"

"Do you ever think about Aeka?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you think about being with her?"

Tenchi turned his head so he could look at Ryoko.

"What brought this up?"

"Just wondering, I guess."

"Hmm." Tenchi let his head fall silently back on the well-stuffed pillow. "Well, sometimes I wonder how things would have been. But, the first thing I think of every time, is how much that would hurt you. So, I stop thinking about it."

"Mmm..." Ryoko only mumbled tentatively. This avenue was not really working for her. She always found it difficult to talk openly about personal things. But, there were other ways to get the conversation to where she wanted it. She made sure to paste a suggestive grin on her face before continuing.

"I saw you in the woods today."

Tenchi's eyes popped open and his face began to burn.

"I was just... going for a walk in the woods and, um... look what I found."

"You found more than you bargained for, hmm?"

Tenchi gently stroked Ryoko's shoulder with the tips of his left fingers, withholding his answer for several seconds.

"I'm sorry, Ryoko. I didn't mean to peep."

"Don't worry about it. Aeka didn't even notice."

"But, you did. And I shouldn't have been looking in the first place. I guess I owe Aeka an apology, too."

As Ryoko stared across the silhouette formed by the thin light wafting across Tenchi's body, a plan began to form in her mind.

"You're... curious about her, aren't you?"

"I'm more worried than curious. She's been acting really strange, lately."

"So, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know."

It took Ryoko a few seconds to work up enough confidence to offer her suggestion.

"You could sleep with her."

Tenchi's response sounded almost as amused as it did incredulous.

"What?!"

"It'd be a Hell of an apology. She'll go for it if you show some initiative. And you'd find out what you've been missing."

"That's not what I had in mind."

"Oh, come on, Tenchi. Every guy wants to do it with a princess. She's had the hots for you from day one."

"Forget it. I would never do that to you."

"But..."

"No, Ryoko." Tenchi pulled his arm from around her shoulders and turned over so he was facing away from her. With the loss of her resting place, Ryoko propped herself up on her elbows.

"Something bad's gonna happen if you don't."

There was a long pause before Tenchi spoke again.

"What do you mean by that?"

Ryoko paused.

_"Where did that come from? Weird."_ Ryoko shook her head to rid herself of the strange feeling.

"I don't know. I've just got a feeling about it. You've gotta to do **something**. Look. I'll get Aeka to go sunbathing with me again, tomorrow, in the same place. If you want to, just show up. I'll bug out and you two can get things worked out. If you do it, fine. If not, that's fine, too. Just... do something, will ya? She's getting to be a real pain in the ass."

Having completed her relatively long speech, Ryoko turned over as well, facing the opposite side of the bed from Tenchi, who sighed for some reason. She took a deep breath to relax herself.

_"Washu, if this doesn't work I swear I'll shave you bald!"_

The peace and quite surrounding Aeka and Ryoko within their small clearing deep in the woods of Ryuten was shattered when Ryoko discovered an empty sake bottle. She held the container up and showed it to Aeka, who was reclining on one of the folding lawn chairs they had brought with a book in her hands.

"What the Hell, Aeka? You drank all the sake!"

"Don't yell at me, Miss Ryoko! You're the one who insisted we come out here to sun-bath, again. If the refreshments you brought were insufficient, it's simply a matter of poor planning on your part."

"Ah, bite me. There woulda been plenty if you weren't hogging it all."

"As I said. You simply didn't bring enough for the both of us."

"Whatever. I'm going back for more."

Ryoko did not bother to tell Aeka she had spotted Tenchi in the tree line just a minute ago. She had made sure to bring plenty of sake to get the princess juiced before Tenchi arrived. Somehow, she had known he would return here today. Call it woman's intuition, call it common sense, call it blind-ass luck. Whatever it was, Tenchi was here and Aeka was both extremely relaxed and naked.

_"Perfect."_ Ryoko thought as she slipped her swimsuit back on. _"Now they can get it on, while I hit-up Washu for that pregnancy test she keeps asking to give. When it comes back negative, maybe she'll quit bugging me about it. There's no way I'm ready for that!"_

"Well?" Aeka asked as Ryoko thought to herself. "Are you going to leave me in peace or must I return, myself?"

"All right! I'm going, for Pete's sake!" Ryoko teleported away, leaving Aeka alone with the prowling young man.

As Tenchi watched Ryoko leave, he felt something stirring within himself. Ryoko had officially given her blessing to settle things with Aeka, and he knew Aeka would not be satisfied until she was in Ryoko's place. But that was a piece of real estate he would never give up.

_"Damn it. This isn't right. I can't do this. I'm not a two-timer. I just don't want to go on hurting Aeka."_ Tenchi looked again to see if Aeka were still there. She was. _"Dammit all! I'm shaking like a leaf! I can't go through with this. Hey! If she leaves I won't have to! But if Aeka leaves..."_

Ryoko's haunting statement from last night came to mind.

_"Something bad's gonna happen if you don't."_

Deep in though as he was, Tenchi took a blind step forwards and stubbed his foot on a tree root.

"Ow!"

Realizing his outburst had probably alerted Aeka to his presence, Tenchi quickly hid behind the tree. A squeak of fright from Aeka's direction told him he was correct. After a few moments of listening to Aeka quickly scrambling for her suit, he heard her voice call to him.

"Lord Tenchi?"

Tenchi remained silent, hoping Aeka might think the sound she had heard was only a wild animal.

"I'm decent now. You can come out." Aeka continued to call to him. Tenchi remained hidden.

"Lord Tenchi, I insist you reveal yourself, this instant!"

_"Now I'm in for it."_

Tenchi took a deep breath, then stepped out from behind the tree, making sure to face away.

"I'm sorry, Aeka. I didn't mean to, um..."

Aeka blushed a bit when Tenchi revealed himself. She was standing in the middle of a forest clearing wearing close to nothing. It was not the lack of clothing that was embarrassing, but the feelings of desire that she felt, looking at Lord Tenchi. The tightness of her suit only served to emphasize to her that she was a grown woman with a grown woman's desires.

"Aeka, I'm going back to the house, now." Tenchi suddenly announced.

"Wait!" Aeka exclaimed. "I mean, won't you... talk with me, for a while?"

Tenchi finally turned around. His eyes went from top to bottom to top again as they drank in the rare sight of Aeka's well proportioned body. When Tenchi noticed Aeka was blushing, he looked up into the sky, avoiding her eyes.

"Um, nice day, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is." Aeka answered as Tenchi began making his way across the short distance from the tree-line. "Please, sit with me." She gestured to the lawn chair.

Tenchi gingerly sat on the edge of the lawn chair and waited for Aeka to join him. As Aeka turned to sit next to him, he got a look at just how tight her suit bottom really was. Tenchi quickly looked away.

"So, Lord Tenchi." Aeka began. "Out for a walk?"

"Mmm. Yes. Actually, I was going to go for a hike yesterday, but, uh..." Tenchi trailed off when he realized he was at the part he did not really want to tell Aeka. Unfortunately for him, her quick mind had already figured out the rest of the story.

"But you saw Ryoko and I sun-bathing."

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I mean, I was just walking through the woods and there you were!"

"I see. And today?"

"I... still wanted to take the trip, so I came back. But, you were here today, too."

Tenchi cringed as he realized that he was not being entirely truthful. He did still want to take that hike. But, there was still an unspoken reason for his presence here.

"I understand." Aeka acknowledged. "It is I who should be apologizing for interfering with your plans. If I had known you would be traveling this route, I would never have allowed Ryoko to bring me here."

"It's not your fault, Aeka. You didn't know." Tenchi smiled a bit. "Besides, I'm glad you and Ryoko are getting along better."

"Well, there doesn't seem to be much to fight over anymore."

Tenchi sensed the melancholy that was descending over Aeka. It reminded him of something he had been meaning to do for a while.

"Aeka, I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt you."

Aeka stared into the trees for a moment before responding.

"Lord Tenchi, I was wondering. Why, or how, did you choose Ryoko?" It was a risky topic for Aeka to get into. But it was something she needed to know.

Tenchi had to think about that for a moment. The particulars of his choice had not been apparent at the time. He had had only his feelings to go on.

"When Ryoko and I were stranded on that island, she... was totally different. It was like she didn't feel the need to impress me anymore. It's kind of funny how it worked. The less she tried, the more impressed I was." He stopped for a moment to regather his thoughts.

"She saved my life, Aeka. If it weren't for her, I would have died of thirst in the first couple of days. She hunted, she cooked, she cleaned. My God, Aeka. She held back an entire typhoon for five whole days! I..." Tenchi shuddered at the remembered feelings Ryoko had engendered within him. "I love her."

Tenchi looked at Aeka, expecting she would be upset. His expectations were confirmed when he saw tears running down her cheeks.

"I am so sorry, Aeka. I wanted to make you feel better, and all I've done was hurt you more."

Wiping her face, Aeka scoffed at Tenchi's apology.

"Nonsense. I asked a personal question and you answered with the truth, which is much more than what that fop, Serifu, would have done. You are an honorable man, Lord Tenchi. I'm very glad to know you."

Drying the last of her tears, Aeka managed to calm herself. Hearing Tenchi tell her up-front that he loved someone else was painful. However, she already knew he loved Ryoko. Anyone could tell just by seeing the way they looked at each other.

"Aeka," Tenchi asked, "I was wondering, too. It's not that I don't want you around, but, I was wondering why you haven't gone back to Jurai?"

Unlike Tenchi's explanation, Aeka's was simple.

"I have much with your family that I did not on Jurai. I can see now why my brother would wish to remain."

"I see." Tenchi accepted her explanation.

"I..." Aeka continued, "can't seem to give up."

Tenchi began to get the feeling the conversation was going in a direction it should not. Not wanting to allow that, he stood up.

"Aeka, I think I should be going."

Aeka looked up at Tenchi in surprise when he cut her off. As the surprise faded, she realized he was right. If she confessed her love for him now, it could cause him many problems she had no right to inflict upon him.

"I'm glad we got to talk."

"So am I." Aeka almost winced at her lie. She felt like nothing had been accomplished and another precious opportunity was wasted.

"Good luck on your tan." Tenchi waved as he turned to leave.

Aeka searched desperately for a way to keep Tenchi near. She looked around, searching for anything that might help. Her eyes fell upon the basket she and Ryoko had brought. The top of a bottle of sunscreen was peeking over the edge.

"Lord Tenchi!"

Tenchi turned back to Aeka.

"Yes?"

"Could I... ask a favor?"

"Sure."

"Skin as fair as mine burns quickly and I cannot easily reach my back. Could you..." Aeka faltered at asking such a bold request.

_"Take heart."_ She told herself. _"It works for Ryoko."_

"Could you... help me?"

Tenchi scratched his cheek with one finger.

"Well..." He eyed Aeka suspiciously for a moment before deciding with a sigh. "All right."

Aeka smiled as she reached for the light-colored bottle. When Tenchi arrived at her side, she handed him the bottle and then turned so that she was sitting length-wise on the lawn chair with her back to the upright section. Tenchi straddled the chair behind her.

As Tenchi squeezed the contents of the bottle into his open palm, it made a sound not unlike a rude noise Ryoko was fond of imitating with her hand and armpit. Both Aeka and Tenchi could not help laughing at it as Tenchi began spreading the cool liquid over Aeka's shoulders. Remembering her hair, Aeka reached back and pulled it over her shoulder so it would not be in the way.

Aeka was soon very glad she had asked Tenchi to do this for her. His strong hands rubbed over her shoulders, spreading the protective substance over her skin, while, at the same time, spreading warm feelings through her being. Quite frankly, it felt wonderful to have his hands on her again. As Tenchi progressed down her back, Aeka found herself enjoying his touch more and more. When his hands passed her shoulder blades, and his fingers wrapped around her slim frame, Aeka felt the first signs of arousal. Each time Tenchi rubbed sunscreen away from the center of her back, she hoped he would go a little further and touch her more sensitive sides. Tenchi continued downwards until he reached Aeka's waist. He took a fresh dollop of sunscreen and spread that around the back and sides of her torso. Aeka sat straighter when she felt his hands rubbing her sensitive waist. But with her legs straight out in front, it overstretched her thighs. Not wanting Tenchi to stop the wonderful back rub he was giving, Aeka uncrossed her legs and tried to straddle the lawn chair as Tenchi was, despite how unwomanly it was to spread her legs in such a manner. However, the joints that allowed her end of the chair to lock upright were in the way.

"Lord Tenchi, would you mind moving back a little?"

"Sure." Tenchi removed his hands for a moment so that he could slide back against the raised segment of the chair. Aeka slid back, as well, which allowed her to sit as she desired.

"Much better." She commented. "You may continue."

Tenchi did not bother to remind Aeka that he was almost done. He noticed that when he put his hands back on her waist she sat up straighter. Tenchi spread the rest of the sunscreen, then he told her of the last area he had to protect from the harmful rays of the sun.

"Aeka, I hope you don't mind my asking, but, if you're going to be out the way you were earlier, I'll need to put some sunscreen under the strap back here. Is that all right?"

He was not at all surprised at Aeka's answer.

"That's fine."

Tenchi put more of the opaque liquid on his hands and bravely tried to slip them under the strap that ran across her back. Aeka held her breath as the material suddenly tightened around her chest. She found herself growing very excited as Tenchi's hands made the top pull and twist across her bosom. Aeka's mouth dropped open to allow her heaving chest the air it needed to fuel her growing desire.

Tenchi could tell by Aeka's posture and breathing that she was getting excited. He would have continued the back rub, but her top was so tight he could barely get his fingers underneath, much less an entire hand. Tenchi pulled his hands away from her back, even though he had not gotten all the areas that needed to be covered.

"Aeka?"

"Yes, Lord Tenchi?" Aeka asked in a quiet voice.

"Um, there's a couple spots I couldn't get because it was too tight, but... I think I should stop, now."

As Aeka sat, thinking very specific thoughts about how she was feeling for Tenchi, she dug her fingers into the plastic strands of the chair and clenched her hands around them. She inhaled deeply before replying.

"I would prefer if you continued. The spots you mentioned will burn without the proper protection. If the strap is in the way..."

Aeka's throat balked at the commands her brain was giving it. Each time she tried to start again, her throat constricted, denying her the words she longed to say. She had no choice but to change her statement.

"Lord Tenchi, do you have a dream?"

"I... want to live in peace with my family."

Aeka could not help smiling.

"That sounds wonderful. I also would like to live in peace. It is very peaceful at your home on Earth. I would someday like to return there. But, I don't think I would feel right if you were not there."

Tenchi sighed at Aeka's heart-felt words. Gently, he ran the backs of his fingers over the small of her back. When she arched her back receptively, Tenchi slid his fingers back to the strap tightly secured around her chest.

"Aeka, there's something I'm going to tell you." Tenchi announced before he started working to remove the strap. "I'm not sure how you feel about this. But, Ryoko told me last night she didn't mind sharing."

Aeka grimaced.

"She would think of something like that."

"Aeka, it's the only way I can see where we can all have our dreams. I think... I think we all want the same thing: To live in peace with someone we love. If we can't all live together, then..." Tenchi took a deep breath to steel himself, "then we should go our separate ways."

There was a long moment of silence as Tenchi waited for a response. He expected anything from rage to tears. What he did not expect was a taste of Aeka's whip-like humor.

"My, what appealing options. I believe that if Mother can share, then so can I."

Tenchi took a deep breath and released it, along with a truck-load of stress. He began unhitching the strap.

"Thank you, Aeka. Thank you for understanding."

"I believe I know now why Father dislikes you so much."

"Why is that?" Tenchi asked as the suit top fell into Aeka's lap. She looked down at it as if it were some mysterious object she had never before laid eyes on.

"You remind him too much of himself."

"Is that so?" Tenchi wondered about Aeka's father for a few moments while he completed the small ritual of spreading the sun-screen over her back.

"Aeka, I want you to know. I've been really worried about you. I could see how much it was hurting you to see Ryoko and I together. It wasn't right of me to go on hurting you like that. Frankly, I'm really surprise you stayed with us. But, I'm glad, too. I didn't want you to leave."

As Aeka's back was now fully protected from the ravages of the sun, Tenchi let his hands slide down the height of her back to her waist, where he wrapped his hands around her slim figure.

"Can I ask a personal question?"

Sensing what Tenchi's question would be, Aeka smiled.

"You may."

"Have you ever, um..."

"Not yet."

Tenchi grinned.

"You don't even know what I was going to ask."

"It does not matter. I have never been intimate with another person."

Tenchi slid his arms around Aeka, holding her tightly.

"Could I..."

"You may."

"You don't even know what I want to do."

"Come now, Lord Tenchi. I'm not that naive."

"Then, you really do feel that way about me."

"I..." Aeka's voice would not obey the commands she was sending it. After a moment of speechless mouth movements, she started over.

"I..." the words caught for a moment. Then, they finally escaped as she forced the air from her lungs. "...love you." All of a sudden, all of the words she had wanted to say for years were rushing to join the others that had already been freed.

"Tenchi, I've wanted to tell you this for so long. But, I was afraid you would not feel the same. If you truly desire me, then I will gladly give myself to you. I... belong to you, heart and soul, for all eternity. I've felt so alone this past year. I was watching Asahi and Gohgei be married and, suddenly, I was overcome with such feelings of despair, that I could not bear it. I was watching them. But I was seeing the two of us. Then, when I looked at you and saw you with Ryoko, I felt betrayed, even though no such thing had occurred."

For a moment, all Aeka could feel besides Tenchi's arms around her waist, was his breath against her ear. She did not care that she was nearly naked. She was not embarrassed by it anymore, especially after the other day. Every word of her confession was true. She would give herself to him, now, without reservation. In her heart, they were already husband and wife.

"I think... I finally figured it out. I think I know now why I've felt like I was doing something wrong all this time. I was only letting half of my feelings out. I tried making up for it with Ryoko. But that wasn't what I needed. Aeka, what I need is you. I need both of you." With a laugh, Tenchi finally said what Aeka had longed to hear for so long. "I love both you, and Ryoko."

Aeka took a deep, shuddering breath to reset her skewed breathing pattern. Just as she was getting a handle on this normally easy task, she felt Tenchi's warm lips on her neck.

"Tenchi..."

Tenchi looked towards the kitchen from his place next to Ryoko. Aeka had gone in there for some snacks a couple of minutes ago and had not yet returned.

"I wonder what's taking so long?"

"She's probably admiring herself in the shiny counter-tops." Ryoko joked.

"I don't know." Tenchi thought about it for a minute. When Aeka still had not returned, he decided to check on her.

"I'll be right back."

"Hey! Why are you so worried? She's probably just getting fat on cookies!"

Tenchi knew better. Aeka was anything but fat. A mental image of her, sans clothes, came to mind as he made his way to the kitchen. When he returned a few minutes later with a grin on his face, Ryoko immediately noticed his content expression.

"What are you so happy about?"

She forgot about her curiosity when he sat down next to her, and then grabbed her by the waist, pulling her right into his lap where he could hold her close.

"You were right. There was nothing to worry about."

Ryoko cuddled against his chest.

"Okay."

When Aeka finally emerged from the kitchen with the promised tray of treats, Ryoko turned in Tenchi's lap, but she did not get up. It was very rare for Tenchi to let her get this close in front of anyone else, and she did not want to mess it up.

"About damn time! I'm surprised there's any cookies left at all!" Ryoko was just about to take a handful of cookies when she smelled something she did not expect. Suspicious, she leaned a little closer and took a good whiff of Aeka's scent.

"Is... is something the matter?" Aeka tried to act nonchalant.

Ryoko recognized the smell of sex, and Aeka reeked of it. She turned to Tenchi, who's face was beginning to turn red. Leaning close to him, Ryoko took another sniff and immediately noticed a faint, but similar smell on Tenchi. Amused, she grinned widely.

"Why, Tenchi, you sly dog. You did Aeka in the kitchen. I had no idea you went in for that stuff."

Tenchi's face went from slightly red to crimson.

"And you!" Ryoko directed her attention to Aeka. "I didn't think you had it in you to try something so risqué! Oh! Now that I think about it, I guess you did have IT in you." Her grin widened into a full-blown smile. "At least for a little while. Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Aeka's eyes rolled back as she fainted from embarrassment.

Finally having recovered herself, Aeka lay in her bed for the remainder of the day. She did not dare show herself for fear of further embarrassment. Whether it was for better or for worse, she was alone for the evening with only her feelings and thoughts, most of which were focused on Tenchi and how he made her feel.

After their rushed encounter in the kitchen, and her subsequent, fainting spell, she had changed into fresh clothes. Opting for something less cumbersome than her usual Jurai robes, she had decided on shorts and a sleeveless shirt. She could see why Sasami and Mihoshi wore such clothes. It was quite comfortable.

As she laid on her summer bed, her thoughts kept drifting to how much she wanted to finish what she and Tenchi had started in the kitchen. The experience, though enjoyable, had left her feeling unfulfilled and needful. She tried thinking of other things to distract herself, but her thoughts always came back to him. Periodically, Aeka found herself rubbing a hand between her legs as she gave vent to some of the passion within herself. She was just starting to work on getting her shorts off when there was a knock at her door.

"Aeka?" It was Tenchi. "May I come in?"

Aeka quickly rebuttoned her shorts and rose to admit Tenchi. She crossed the room and slid the door open.

"Good evening, Lord Tenchi."

"Um, Hi."

"Please, come in." Aeka allowed herself a well-concealed look of desire as Tenchi passed by. She slid the door closed behind him. He looked around the darkened room for a moment before speaking.

"I, um, wanted to check on you. Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, Tenchi. I'm feeling much better now. It's very thoughtful of you to check on my welfare." In the darkness, it was difficult for Tenchi to see the way she was looking him over.

"Oh, good. I was kind of worried when you just fainted like that. You didn't hit your head or anything, did you?"

Aeka giggled when Tenchi's remark reminded her of what had occurred a couple of days ago.

"No. But, now that you mention it, I do feel a little warm." Aeka moved to within half an arm's reach of Tenchi. "Would you be so kind as to check my temperature?"

"Uh, okay." Tenchi put his hand to Aeka's forehead. The warmth of her brow shocked him.

"Aeka! I think you have a fever! We should call a doctor." Tenchi went for the door.

"No!" Aeka grabbed his hand, keeping him from getting to the door. "I'm sorry! I don't mean to be so forward. I..." She held his hand in her own hands, just in front of her chest. "I simply can't stop thinking about earlier."

Tenchi looked at Aeka in confusion for a moment before realizing what she meant.

"Oh. I guess that wasn't such a good idea."

Aeka shook her head in disagreement.

"No. It's not that. I'm not embarrassed or ashamed. I liked it." She held his hand against her chest. "I liked it a lot."

Her gaze drilled into Tenchi's eyes. He had to understand what she wanted. Putting all of her considerable willpower into her gaze, Aeka tried as hard as she could to make Tenchi understand that she needed him to finish what they had started.

"Aeka, have you been thinking about what we did all evening?"

"Yes." She pressed his hand between her breasts as she inched closer to Tenchi. "I can't stop thinking about it. What we did felt wonderful. But, it was over so quickly. I didn't get to enjoy myself, or you."

Aeka could feel her heart racing. Her breath accelerated in expectation of what she wanted from Tenchi.

"I'm sorry, Aeka." Tenchi put his free right hand on the side of Aeka's face. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back a bit, hoping he would understand how much she needed him. She was rewarded a moment later when Tenchi kissed her waiting lips.

Aeka devoured his affection as a starving person devours a meal. She released Tenchi's hand and went to his waist where she immediately began pulling out his shirt. Tenchi pulled back in surprise.

"Hey! Slow down! I thought you wanted to go slow this time."

"Tenchi, I..." Aeka's breaths game in great gasps as she fought for control of herself. "I've never had the courage to say these things, before. But, I can't wait anymore. I don't want it to be over quickly, but I don't want to wait, either. Please, Tenchi. Don't make me wait any longer."

Without waiting for Tenchi's answer, Aeka resumed working on getting his clothes off. Her fingers worked deftly at the belt she had in her hands.

"All right." Tenchi answered her. "You don't have to wait."

For some time, Aeka and Tenchi laid naked together in her bed. Aeka stayed close to him, her head and left hand on his chest. She was just drifting off when Ryoko's impatient voice intruded on their peace.

"Are you done yet?"

Aeka's head snapped up to address the source of the rude intrusion. She found Ryoko sitting upside-down on the ceiling, her hair hanging down like so many jungle snakes, ready to pounce on her at any moment.

"Must you be so vulgar?"

"The only thing vulgar is how you're hogging Tenchi all to yourself."

"Perhaps Lord Tenchi simply prefers a more capable partner than you."

Ryoko's eyes expanded with a flash of anger.

"You wish! There's no way you're more capable than me!"

"Please, don't argue." Tenchi put his free arm over his eyes to shut out the sight of his lovers quarrelling, as he tried to impose peace.

"I'm sorry, Lord Tenchi." Aeka immediately apologized. "Please forgive me."

"I'll tell you what." Tenchi began to explain an idea he had come up with earlier. "I figured something like this was going to happen, and I don't want either of you to think I'm spending more time with the other. So I came up with a way to keep things fair."

Both Aeka and Ryoko listened carefully.

"I'll sleep here with Aeka tonight."

"But, Tenchiii!" Ryoko whined from her place on the ceiling.

"I'm not done yet. I'll spend tonight with Aeka. Then we'll switch. Tomorrow I'll spend the night with Ryoko. Each night I'll switch. If we do more than just sleep, then fine. If not, well, you'll just have to live with that. I don't think I can keep up with both of you at the same time, so it's going to have to be this way. If either of you has a better idea, I'm willing to listen. Otherwise, that's the way it's going to be from now on."

It took Aeka only a moment to see the logic in Tenchi's idea. Although she would rather have Tenchi to herself, her mother's suggestion that she share him with Ryoko had stuck with her. Perhaps Misaki had spoken with Tenchi, or maybe his father. In addition, she was impressed that Tenchi was finally taking charge of his life.

"Very well."

Ryoko was not as understanding. She was already pleading with him, which did not happen very often.

"When I said I don't mind sharing, I didn't mean permanently! I just thought you wanted to try someone else. You know, to get some experience or because you were curious about Aeka. Why do you need someone else? Aren't I good enough?"

Tenchi moved his arm from his eyes to above his head. As he looked at Ryoko, he could see that she looked upset.

"Ryoko, your hair looks funny upside-down."

The inverted girl began pawing at her hair, trying to find what was wrong.

"My hair? Oh. Um... Hey!" She figured out Tenchi was playing with her when she saw him smile. Tenchi reached out to her. Ryoko drifted down to the bed and took his hand in hers. They stared into each other's eyes for a long time, sharing some form of silent communication. Aeka glanced back and forth between them, trying to understand how they could possibly look so in love.

"All right." Ryoko reluctantly agreed. "If that's what you want."

"Thank you for understanding."

Ryoko slowly faded from view.

A moment later Aeka spoke into his chest.

"I love you, Tenchi."

Tenchi put both arms around her shoulders and held her close for comfort.

"I love you, too."

Aeka had taken to staying outside during the evening hours so that she would not have to witness Tenchi and Ryoko's intimacy. The next evening, she went out not to avoid them, but because she valued the peace and quiet. The kitchen window was only a short distance away, and the sounds of Sasami working on dinner in the kitchen made things seem just like when she had first met Tenchi.

Aeka sat outside enjoying the warm evening air with a new embroidery work. This one she was intending to present to Tenchi as a gift. When she found herself growing thirsty, she set her work down and stood to get herself something to drink. To her surprise, she saw Tenchi on his way out with a full pitcher of lemonade and two glasses. She greeted him with a bright smile.

"Good evening, Lord Tenchi."

"Hi. You've been out here for a while. So, I thought you might like a drink."

"Why, yes. I was just thinking of that."

Tenchi seemed a little confused about what to do next.

"Um, could you hold the glasses?"

"Oh! Of course. How silly of me!" Aeka took the glasses from Tenchi's hand so he could pour the lemonade into them using both hands.

"There." Tenchi announced, once he had filled them. "Why don't we sit?"

"Very well."

Aeka sat down right where she had risen from a moment ago. Tenchi sat very close to her.

"So, what are you making?"

"Why, Tenchi. You never ask about my activities." Aeka smiled some more. "What has come over you?"

"Ah, well, I just thought we haven't talked much lately. So, what are you making?" Tenchi leaned close so he could better see what she was working on.

Aeka's chest clenched when she inhaled the scent of him. She felt strangely compelled to lean forward and kiss his exposed neck. When Tenchi felt her lips touch his neck, he grinned and stretched his neck as far as he could. Aeka ran her tongue up and down his neck, making him sigh with longing.

"Mmm. That feels good."

Aeka set her glass of lemonade down at arms reach so she would not spill it. She put her right arm over Tenchi's shoulders and her left hand on the other side of his neck so she could put more pressure against his neck with her mouth. Tenchi chuckled slightly as he was suddenly taken by the mental image of a vampire sucking its victim dry. Aeka backed off.

"Do you find something funny, Lord Tenchi?"

"No, it's nothing." Tenchi assured her. "You don't have to stop, if you don't want to."

"Very well." Aeka put the laughing episode out of mind and picked up where she had left off.

She soon felt Tenchi's left hand crawling up her right thigh. Growing tired of the lack of oral interaction, Aeka gently pulled on Tenchi's face, rotating his mouth to where she could reach it. They kissed gently, speaking their desires without words. Tenchi moved his left hand from her thigh to just behind her, allowing him to sit upright. Then, replacing it with his right, he firmly rubbed the inside of her thigh. The corners of Aeka's mouth curled upwards as Tenchi began wriggling his fingers into her kimono. She carefully redirected his kisses to her neck so she could speak.

"My goodness, Lord Tenchi. Where did you learn to be so adventuresome?"

"From you." He whispered against her neck.

"I don't think so. I believe that other woman has been teaching you things men should not know." She inhaled deeply as Tenchi found her panties. "If you do that out here, I won't want to stop."

"That's the idea."

"Oh, yes..."

Finding that everything was nearly ready for this evening's repast, Sasami took a moment to let everyone know that dinner would soon be served. She knew her sister spent the evenings on the back porch with her embroidery. So she went there first, since it was closer than the living room, where Ryoko was probably lounging.

Intending to tell Aeka dinner was nearly ready, she stuck her head out the back door just in time to see Aeka reaching across the porch to retrieve her panties. Sasami quickly retreated behind the wall beside the door without being seen. She slapped a hand to her mouth in shock.

Everyone knew Tenchi was with Ryoko. What she had just seen definitely appeared to fit the definition of cheating. She took a deep breath and banished the thought. There was no way Tenchi would ever cheat on Ryoko. Then she remembered that she had suggested to Tenchi a while ago that he marry both Ryoko and Aeka. She almost started giggling. With more confidence, Sasami stepped out through the porch door.

"Big Sister, Tenchi, dinner's ready!"

Aeka quickly concealed the article of clothing in the sleeve of her kimono before facing her sister.

"Thank you, Sasami. We'll be in shortly."

"Right. Thanks, Sasami." Tenchi confirmed Aeka's claim from where he was sitting on the edge of the porch.

Giving her sister and Tenchi a mildly reproving look, Sasami went back inside to finish the preparations for dinner.

The two lovers waited until they were certain Sasami was out of earshot before breathing a sigh of relief. To their chagrin, Sasami's voice called to them again from inside.

"Don't be late!"

Tenchi hung his head and Aeka looked as if her head would fall off sideways.

Ryoko found her beloved to be somewhat uninterested in making love that evening. No matter how much she tried, Tenchi would not do more than pet and kiss. She was eventually forced to give up on it.

"Tenchi, why don't you want me?"

"I'm just tired. It doesn't have anything to do with you."

"You had Aeka again, today, didn't you?"

Tenchi remain silent for a while as Ryoko lay against his chest. He had no desire to reduce the intensity of the passionate love he felt for Aeka. But if he did not, he knew his relationship with Ryoko would suffer. She was already growing jealous. Tenchi decided not to mention he had made love to Aeka not just that evening, but first thing this morning, as well.

"Yes."

"Don't you want me anymore?" Ryoko's voice was very quiet. It disturbed Tenchi to hear her so despondent.

"Of course I do. I'm just tired. I need some rest tonight."

Ryoko remained silent for a time, tapping her fingers against his ribcage. Tenchi was not sure he wanted her to be silent. If she was not speaking, then she was thinking. He had a hard enough time trying to understand her actions. Trying to out-think her was asking too much.

"What are you thinking about?"

Tenchi was surprised when he felt a drip of water roll down the side of his chest.

"Ryoko?"

"**What?**"

Tenchi nearly recoiled at the vehemence in her voice.

"Ryoko, please look at me."

The cyan-haired beauty hesitated before turning her face towards Tenchi. He put his right hand on her cheek and carefully ran his thumb just under her left eye. The wetness there proved she was very upset. It had taken Tenchi years to realize Ryoko was actually a very sensitive person under her tough exterior. He tried to think of how he would feel if Ryoko all of a sudden decided she wanted someone else in addition to him and then spent the next two days making love to him. Just the thought of it made his chest clench with imagined pain. He looked Ryoko straight in the eye as he apologized for pushing her to the side so casually.

"I love you."

The corners of her mouth curled up in pleasure at his affirmation.

"I know. But, sometimes I think you love her more."

"That's not true. Oh, how can I explain it?" Tenchi paused as he tried to figure out how to explain how his feelings for Ryoko and Aeka differed.

"When we first made love, I was already in love with you. I just hadn't realized it, yet. It was different with Aeka. You were right. I was curious about her. I wanted to know what I was missing. On top of that, I wanted her to know I still cared about her."

"I guess... the difference is that I can feel you right in my heart. I feel like we belong together. When we touch, it feels like there's something more than a physical connection between us. I'm not sure what it is, but it's there. I know it."

"With Aeka, I can feel her, and I love her. I know she loves me, too. Making love to her is amazing. She's so open about how she feels. She's actually pretty aggressive about it. It surprised me that she makes so much noise. I kind of like it. She's a princess, so I guess it's kind of like some strange forbidden fruit. It really means a lot to me that you, um... said it was all right she and I could be together. It bothered me to see her so depressed all the time. I was really worried about her. She seems a lot happier, now."

Tenchi realized he had diverged from his intended course. He had meant to tell Ryoko how much he cared for her as opposed to Aeka. Instead, he had ended up telling her how much he loved Aeka.

"You're right, though. I have been spending more time with Aeka. I'll tell you what. Why don't we spend tomorrow together, okay?"

Ryoko looked up at him, her eyes full of hope.

"Really?"

"Yes. You decide what you want to do, and I'll go along with it."

"What if I want to make love in a field under the stars?"

"Well, since tomorrow night is Aeka's night, I don't think it'll be under the stars. But everything before that is up to you."

"Can we go for a long walk alone in the woods?"

"Is that what you want?"

"Yeah."

"Deal."

Ryoko snuggled more comfortably into his chest.

"I love you, Tenchi."

"I love you, too, Ryoko."

Ryoko nearly dragged Tenchi through the woods. Her excitement was high at having him alone to herself for the entire day. The fact that they were truly alone was even better. She had planned and schemed of ways to entice him into making love to her today, but none of her plans seemed right for Tenchi. She wanted it to be spontaneous.

They walked hand in hand for a long time, just talking and watching the wildlife. They laughed at nothing and made eyes at each other, knowing full-well they were thinking about the same things. When Ryoko finally moved in close and wrapped her arms around his neck, Tenchi decided he had had enough of flirtation. He put his hands around her waist and pulled her against him. She tilted her head up the small bit necessary to meet his lips and they kissed deeply for a long time.

When they parted, Ryoko set her head down on Tenchi's shoulder. They held each other close for much longer. The noises of the forest were the only sounds they heard. An occasional gust of wind rustled the leaves of the trees. Cicadas whined their greetings from up high, while grasshoppers chirruped their answers from below. Squirrels and chipmunks ran up and down the trees like messengers delivering word from one world to the next. Various birds swooped from tree to tree, picking off small insects like pirates attacking random cargo vessels.

"Tenchi?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

Tenchi squeezed her just a bit tighter.

"I love you, too."

Their thoughts drifted in different directions. While Ryoko thought of how she wished she could do more for Tenchi, he thought of how little time he had spent with her of late. He decided he had not been very considerate of her feelings, especially considering who he had been spending his time with.

"Ryoko, I'm sorry I've been so selfish, lately."

"Forget it. I'm the one that hooked you up with Aeka. Heh. I had no idea she would be so good in bed."

"Uhh..." Tenchi was not quite sure how to respond to that. The facts of the matter were that Aeka was good in bed. Tenchi had enjoyed every moment of the time they spent together and he was looking forward to tonight with her.

Ryoko pulled back just enough so she could make eye contact before continuing on.

"Just remember to save some for me from now on."

"I promise I will."

They looked into each others eyes. Ryoko let her lids close, expecting Tenchi to kiss her.

"Could you open your eyes again?" Tenchi asked.

Surprised, Ryoko complied. She waited patiently for Tenchi to explain what he wanted.

"You have pretty eyes."

Her eyes went wide and her cheeks blushed at Tenchi's bold-faced compliment. Not even he had ever complimented her on her eyes. The feline-like golden orbs had always brought fear out of anyone unfortunate enough to see them until she had changed them over a year ago. She quickly reigned in her surging emotions, flashing a wide smile as compensation.

"That's a first."

"No one's ever told you that before?"

"Everyone's afraid of my eyes."

Tenchi lifted his hands to her face.

"Not everyone."

Ryoko let her eyes flutter shut despite Tenchi's insistence she keep them open. His soft touch on her cheeks sent waves of pleasure through her being. It was not an erotic pleasure, but something deeper and more meaningful. When she felt their lips touch, her hands slid down to Tenchi's chest. She stayed there while holding her mouth open for him. Tenchi's tongue lightly brushed past her lips. Their tongues danced to the duet of their hearts beating in time to one another. They slipped past one another and explored each others' mouth, lightly touching and tasting the soft tissues inside. Their mouths came completely together, allowing them to explore their true feelings for one another.

As Ryoko stood, she pulled Tenchi's shorts back up for him. Showing a great deal of concern for his modesty, she made sure his clothes were properly arranged as she resecured the hurriedly removedarticles.

"Did you like it?" She asked with a coy smile.

"Ryoko..." Tenchi could find no way to sufficiently express how she had made him feel.

"Speechless, huh?"

"Yeah."

Having finished buttoning Tenchi's shorts, Ryoko leaned against his chest. Tenchi gently put his arms around her shoulders.

"I'll bet Aeka wouldn't do that for you."

"She started to, once. But I didn't let her finish."

"No way." Ryoko said with disbelief.

"Well..."

"She wasn't as good as I was, was she?"

"Not even close."

"Good." Ryoko said just before planting a firm kiss against his neck. "There's so much I want to do with you."

Tenchi tightened his grip as he felt his feelings soaring.

"Ryoko, how long do you think this will last?"

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I don't know. Sometimes, I get the feeling that someday this will all end, and we won't be together anymore."

"You block-head." Ryoko used her pet name for him. "We'll always be together."

"How do you know that?"

"That's just the way it is. The two of us, together forever."

The understanding of Ryoko's depth of feeling for him suddenly revealed itself. Tenchi tightened his arms around his lover, pulling her close. Her warm presence complimented his own, and Tenchi realized for the first time that Ryoko truly meant to spend the rest of her life with him. Surprisingly, he found the idea appealing.

_"'Forever'._ _I think I'd like that."_

Tenchi was glad when Ryoko finally decided she wanted to go back. It was not because he did not want to spend more time with her, but the summer heat was reaching its peak and the outside air temperature was getting very high, even in the shade. When she suggested they fly back to the cottage, he was in such a great mood that he agreed. He had no fear of going for a short flight, anymore. She did not tease him about it or pretend to drop him anymore.

They took off with Ryoko holding him about the chest, underneath her body. She gave him a good surprise, though, when she turned over without warning him. Tenchi suddenly found himself looking straight up at the brightly lit sky. He held his hand in front of his face to shield his eyes.

"Why don't you turn over, Tenchi? Don't worry. I won't drop you."

"Are you kidding?"

"I won't let go. Please?"

Tenchi could not resist when she asked him like that. Still, it would be difficult.

"I don't know..."

"Don't you trust me?"

That did it. There was nothing more Ryoko could do to get him to do something, than to call his trust into question. He trusted Ryoko emphatically, and nothing could ever shake that trust again.

Tenchi carefully sat up on Ryoko's stomach while putting his hands on the sides of her hips for balance. He scooted back a bit to get a more stable position. After a minute spent getting accustomed to his precarious mid-air perch, he partially lifted his weight to his hands and rotated to face Ryoko's right side, letting his legs hang in the air. He took a steadying breath, then carefully leaned over to his right. He kept at least one hand on Ryoko at all times as he laid down on top of her. When his weight started slipping off to the left, he gasped in fright. Ryoko's well-placed hand kept him from falling. He quickly centered himself, face-down, then stretched his legs out. Once he was settled, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Man, that was freaky."

Ryoko looked up at him with amused trust.

"I told you you wouldn't fall." Ryoko wrapped her arms around his waist, holding him steady. "Take a look around, Tenchi. See what I see."

Tenchi did as Ryoko suggested and looked around. It looked the same as it had a minute ago. The forest was below them, with the town off in the distance. The sky was blue, and became slightly whiter nearer to the horizon. The only difference was that he had Ryoko below him. He looked down and saw she was watching him with a look of delight on her face.

He put his hands on her shoulders, then bent forward and kissed her. Ryoko accepted his affection eagerly. While their mouths worked together, she pulled her legs around his hips, making sure to leave her feet just beneath Tenchi's knees so he would have something to rest his legs on. With her legs spread, her dress had nothing to hold onto, and it fell open, revealing her well-muscled thighs and white panties. She was very pleased when Tenchi pushed firmly against her hips. She stuck her hands down the back of his shorts and pulled him between her legs, encouraging him to continue. Tenchi broke their lip-lock to warn her against any further well-meaning encouragement.

"Ryoko, I don't think we should do that up here."

"Do you know how long I've wanted to do it like this?"

Thinking for a moment, Tenchi came up with an answer.

"Oh, I don't know. Four years?"

Ryoko's eyes popped open in surprise.

"How did you know?"

"Mmm... it's an ancient family secret."

Ryoko's eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, right."

They stared into each other's eyes for a minute, simply reveling in the shared look of love. Very deliberately and firmly, Ryoko pulled on Tenchi's rear again.

"Make love to me."

"All right."

Ryoko smiled broadly as Tenchi began kissing down the side of her jaw and neck. This one was definitely going to be special.

A thunderous crash from Tenchi's bedroom sent dust and wood particles raining down on the first floor of the summer cottage. Fearing the world was coming to an end, Aeka, Sasami, and Ryo-o-ki went running to see what had caused the disturbance. Being of poor skill at running on two feet, Ryo-o-ki reverted to her cute and fuzzy cabbit form so she could navigate the stairs faster. Sasami's legs were long enough now that she was almost as fast as Aeka on her feet. She and Aeka reached the bedroom door almost at the same time. Her elder sister grasped the door and flung it aside, expecting to witness a scene of death and destruction.

"What?"

Aeka saw Tenchi and Ryoko locked in a passionate embrace atop the shattered remains of the wood frame bed. Artificial stuffing had burst from the seams of the mattress, filling the air with white puffy material. Ryoko held Tenchi within her protective grasp, shielding him from harm as he lay on top of her. Sasami voiced her surprise at the scene.

"Wow! They broke the bed!"

Aeka slid the door shut without a word, shutting off the scene before Ryo-o-ki could get a look.

"Myaow. Mya myan!"

Aeka began issuing very explicit instructions to her preteen-aged sister.

"Sasami, you did not see that."

Sasami seemed confused at her sister's instructions.

"Yes, I did."

"No, you didn't."

Now she was getting indignant.

"Yes, I did!"

"No, you did not!" Aeka stopped and turned to face her young sister so she could make her instructions a little clearer. "At no time have you ever witnessed Lord Tenchi and Miss Ryoko in any kind of an intimate situation. Understood?"

Sasami grumbled a bit before agreeing.

"Okay."

"Much better."

Aeka began leading her sister back downstairs, as Ryo-o-ki phased through the door to get a look at the spectacle. Sasami suddenly found a way out of the restriction she had agreed to.

"But, I did see them having sex!"

Aeka spun around again.

"Sasami!"

"Mya! Mya mya mya mya mya!"

Ryo-o-ki suddenly ran by like an Olympic sprinter, leaving assorted scratch marks on the wooden floor.

"What's gotten into her?" Aeka wondered aloud.

Sasami grinned.

"She must not have seen Tenchi and Ryoko in an intimate situation, either."

END.

AFTERWORD: Cut and past, cut and paste... Oh, the things we do to fit a desired rating. There is a reason for this chapter. You'll find out in the next one.


	20. Inseperable

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INVASION, Volume 3, Part 4: Inseparable.

DISCLAIMER: Tenchi Muyou! is copyright AIC/Pioneer, LDC. I claim no rights to it. However, the events in this story are entirely of my own imagination. So please don't change them. Feel free to distribute this story as freely as desired.

FOREWORD: One of my readers prompted me to reinvestigate the proper romanization of the pink-haired guy. The results are in. I was wrong. Although Seiryuu is mentioned in the prologue of the first True Tenchi Muyou novel, he is not referred to by name. I was led to believe by the context of the sentence that the word Serifu, which means words, lines, speech, etc., was actually the person Azusa brought to Earth. My bad. At some point in the future, I'll go back and change it. But, since he does not hold a great deal of influence from now on, I won't place a great deal of importance on it, other than to make sure I spell it correctly in the future.

Information regarding the number of first generation ships in this chapter is in direct contradiction to what is available in the True Tenchi Muyou Novels. However, I vaguely recall reading somewhere that there is a story about another 1st-gen ship named Masaki (different kanji), so I ran with it.

This chapter takes place over a two to three week period about a month after the last chapter.

AUTHOR: Dreamr

LAST REVISION: 21 January 2003

EMAIL: TrueDreamr@Hotmail.com

BEGIN.

For the third time, Aeka stood within the enclosed walkway that ran parallel to the dry dock used for the commissioning of new ships. On the other side of the windows, her ship floated, serenely waiting for her to board for the required training journey. Hopefully, the third time would the charm. Twice now, her ship, Ryu-o, had been nearly destroyed. The first time was at the hands of Ryoko when she had attacked Jurai. The second time was during the fight against Kagato. Aeka always felt a stab of guilt in her heart whenever she remembered that her first thought had been for Tenchi, rather than the tree she was bonded to.

A strong hand descended on her right shoulder, reminding Aeka of the warm presence behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Tenchi standing nearby. She could feel his support flowing through the simple gesture. Aeka smiled, despite the disagreeable figure standing next to him.

Ryoko had also come to see Ryu-o, along with Sasami, Washu, and Ryo-o-ki. What the pirate's interest in her tree was, Aeka could not guess, neither did she care to ask. Most certainly, it would only be for some nefarious purpose, as Ryoko was about to prove.

"So, what's the big deal, anyway?"

Aeka scowled at the cyan-hair woman.

"Do you have any clue what kind of a miracle it is that Ryu-o was able to be regenerated?"

Ryoko's face crunched up with annoyance.

"Well, 'scuse me!"

Aeka snorted her displeasure as she turned to gaze out the viewing portal at her soon-to-be recommissioned vessel.

"You are excused."

Ryoko's cheeks puffed out as she growled at the princess. Aeka's younger sister, Sasami, decided it would be best if she tried to mediate a peaceful ending to the conversation.

"Sister, I don't think Tenchi and Ryoko know anything about Royal Trees. Why don't you tell them?"

Aeka's regal bearing seemed to magically grow even more regal as she straightened her back.

"Very well." With a small cough, she began her oral lecture. "The Royal Trees originated on Jurai Prime, although they may be grown on either Jurai, or Ryuten, nowadays. All Royal Trees are descended from Tsunami, the first Ship of Jurai. However, not all trees are directly bred from Tsunami. The trees are ranked in order of descendence from Tsunami, starting with the first generation, then the second, and so on. In the history of Jurai, there have been only two First Generation Royal Trees successfully bonded. They are Kirito, my father's ship, and Funaho, my brother's ship. However, There are more than two first generation trees."

"Within the Tenju*, there are others. Officially, the Royal Family of Jurai acknowledges only the existence of Kirito, Funaho, and the four first-generation trees, Tatsuki, Amaki, Kamiki, and Masaki."

Washu's mumbled agreement seemed to float through the air with a sense of mystery.

"Named after the four branches of the Jurai royal family. But I was under the impression a tree didn't receive a name until it was bonded to a person."

"That is true. History says that the first king of Jurai named the trees after his four children, even though they were never bonded. However, not all of the trees are accounted for. At the time of Father's bonding, two strange events occurred. Mitsuki Amaki, niece to the then King of Jurai, disappeared, as well as the family's tree, Amaki. Some say that Father took Amaki from Mitsuki and made it his own. This of course is completely ridiculous. The tree would never have stood for it, unless Mitsuki willingly gave Amaki to Father. If that were the case, it would also explain her disappearance. The bond between a member of the Royal Family and their tree can never be severed, except at the death of one of the pair. Therefore, Lady Mitsuki would have had to willingly give her life for him. However, a tree and its partner can become assimilated."

Everyone glanced at Sasami, as they recalled the same was occurring to her.

"As for the other First Generation Royal Trees, Tatsuki and Kamiki lie dormant at the bottom of the arboretum, awaiting one who is worthy to inherit their power. Masaki... disappeared nine hundred thousand years, and has not been heard from since."

Tenchi's eyes went wide with shock when he heard Aeka say "nine hundred thousand years".

"Wow, Aeka! Just how old is the Jurai Empire?"

"The Holy Empire of Jurai has existed since the Covenant of Jurai was established between the First King of Jurai and Tsunami, one point two million years ago."

Tenchi's question encouraged Aeka to get into more detail about the history of her people. Turning to face her friends, she continued explaining the Royal Trees' significance.

"From the first generation Royal Trees that I mentioned before, are descended the second generation trees such as my Ryu-o. It meant a great deal to me that I received a second generation tree. Most members of the Royal Family receive only a third generation tree. These trees are still capable of conscious thought and self-awareness. But beyond them, the tree has no will. It cannot move about on its own without a captain to guide it. They are also incapable of generating the Light-Hawk Wings on their own. Only when a tree of the third generation or higher empowers it to do so, will the wings deploy."

Ryoko grinned as she came up with a question that was sure to stump her lecturer.

"Okay, Princess. So how come all those super-powerful ships just sat on their asses when I attacked Jurai, hmm?"

Aeka hung her head in defeat.

"At the time I left Jurai, that question was still unanswered."

Folding one arm across her chest, Ryoko placed her other elbow on her forearm and set an upraised finger over her lips. Looking up with just her eyes, she looked like she was thinking very hard about something.

"No kidding. Huh. Hey, Washu, do you know why?"

Washu intently scrutinized her daughter, thinking there must be some trick to this question.

"If I had some time I could probably find out. But, as of this moment, not a clue."

Ryoko cracked a huge smile.

"Cool! I know something nobody else does!"

All eyes were suddenly on Ryoko as she smugly chuckled to herself. As one, the three girls standing around Ryoko asked for more details, while Tenchi stood around looking confused.

"Well?"

Ryoko put her hands behind her back and smiled some more. Suddenly, she whipped out a set of spectacles and set them on the bridge of her nose.

"It's quite simple really."

"What!?" Washu immediately objected to Ryoko's sudden change in appearance and vocal characterization. "You're not stealing my schtick! That's my act!" Washu made a grab for the spectacles on Ryoko's face. But the pirate floated away with a whoop of glee.

"Nyah-nyah! Not so smart, now, are ya?"

For a moment, Washu actually stewed in frustration. Then she remembered how rare it was for Ryoko to act this playful towards her. A small smile cracked the prodigal genius's face.

"Oh, I see. So you want to play, do you? Not a problem. Little Washu's got somethin' for ya!"

A holographic terminal appeared before Washu's upraised hands. She immediately began tapping away at full speed while Tenchi and Sasami watched. Aeka, however, was more interested in the information Ryoko possessed, than the game Ryoko and Washu were entertaining themselves with.

"Um, excuse me, Little Washu?"

The scientist did not even bother to face Aeka before spitting out her response.

"Not now! I'm busy!"

Aeka could not help noticing how Washu's speech patterns always seemed to resemble Ryoko's whenever she got frustrated. As the princess was considering how to best approach the problem, Ryoko called down from above.

"Come one, slow-poke! I'm still waiting for what you've got for me! Or is old age finally slowing you down?"

A devilish glint sparked across Washu's left eye.

"Oh, girl, you're gonna pay for that one." Her right pointer finger stabbed down onto the control panel. Almost immediately, several black holes opened around Ryoko, who glanced at them with a wary eye.

"Aeka?"

The First Princess leaned a little closer to Tenchi so she could hear him clearly.

"Yes, Lord Tenchi?"

"I'm not so sure it's safe here anymore. Why don't we go on ahead to the ceremony?"

Aeka nodded.

"I completely agree. Sasami, let's go, before something bad happens."

"But, Sister, can't I stay and watch?"

"Absolutely not! Lord Tenchi is right. It's not safe here. Come along."

Sasami grumbled in dissatisfaction at her sister's wishes, but she obeyed. Ryo-o-ki trailed along behind her, singing a very martial sounding anthem as only she could.

"Mya-mya-mya-mya. Myan! Myan!"

Looking down, Sasami realized they were all in step. While this was amusing, and Sasami loved Ryo-o-ki dearly, she could not help wishing Little Ryo would use her older-looking form more often. At least, then it would seem like she had a friend her own age. Despite the sobering thought, Sasami still looked down and behind her to smile at Little Ryo as she marched and sang her cadence.

The rechristening of Ryuo was being held at the bow of the ship, on a wooden deck erected specifically for the occasion. The media was out in full force to cover the event. As soon as The First Princess reached the platform, she was practically mugged by the reporters as they pelted her with questions. Pasting a solidly political smile on her face, Aeka foisted Tenchi off on her sister to keep him from having to deal with the inevitable pestering.

"Sasami, why don't you take Lord Tenchi to the snack table while I deal with these people?"

With a smile, Sasami nodded.

"Sure!" She grabbed Tenchi's right hand and pulled him off towards a long table set on one side of the platform with a lavish selection of local delicacies spread across its entire length. "Come on, Little Ryo!"

"Uh... okay..." Tenchi muttered, followed by a sigh of resignation.

Ryo-o-ki toddled along behind the pair as Sasami dragged Tenchi along. She gave the table a quick inspection as they arrived. When she found the carrots she was looking for, Ryo-o-ki stretched as far as she could to reach the vegetable platter.

"Mya..."

With a giggle, Sasami nudged the plate closer.

"Here."

Ryo-o-ki snatched a handful of the miniature tubers and stuffed them into her mouth.

"Uh... Sasami?"

The Second Princess looked to her left, where Tenchi was standing next to her.

"Yes?"

"Can I have my hand back?"

Sasami looked down and saw that she was still holding Tenchi's hand. Her eyes went wide, and her face blushed with embarrassment as she released his appendage.

"I'm sorry!"

"Ah, it's okay." Tenchi began scratching at the back of his head. "I'm pretty much used to it by now."

As he surveyed the selection of edibles, Tenchi noticed Ryo-o-ki shovel in another handful of mini-carrots.

"Actually, those do look kind of good."

"I'll get it!" Sasami reached across the tray and pulled a single carrot from its surface. "Would you like some dip?"

"Is it vegetable dip?" Tenchi asked, looking into the small bowl in the center of the tray, with its white paste and green herbs.

"I think so."

"Definitely."

Sasami dipped the carrot into the white substance and held it out at mouth level for Tenchi.

"Say 'Ah!'"Tenchi closed his eyes and opened his mouth.

"Ah!"

Sasami giggled again as she popped the vegetable into Tenchi's mouth. The young man was only half a second from crushing the carrot between his molars when someone grabbed his rear. He immediately jumped a meter into the air and inhaled the carrot, which lodged firmly in his throat. Vegetables and assorted snacks went everywhere as he crashed down onto the serving table, which gave way with a tremendous crash. Everyone on the platform turned to look and see what the disturbance was about. Looking up as he clutched at his throat, Tenchi could see the look of mischievous entertainment on Ryoko's face. Sasami was also looking down at him, but with an expression of concern.

"Hey, Ryoko, I think Tenchi's choking."

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, his face is turning blue and he's clutching at his throat."

"No kidding." Ryoko's expression quickly changed to one of intense curiosity. "I've never seen anyone choking before. Hey, Tenchi, what's it feel like?"

Tenchi clawed at the air before him. Although he could not say what it felt like, to him, it was terrifying. To think he might die of choking after everything he had survived so far in his life was horribly ironic. Fortunately, Sasami was looking out for his welfare. She quickly reminded Ryoko of what would happen if the situation was not soon rectified.

"Ryoko, I mean it! If we don't help him, he'll die!"

"Oh, crap! Why didn't you say so? Uh..." Ryoko stared at him for a moment as she tried to recollect what to do in the event someone was choking. "Oh, yeah!" She jabbed Tenchi high in the gut with the knuckles of her right hand. The impact was sufficient to force the air remaining in Tenchi's lungs to push the carrot out of his trachea and up into the air. The girls watched the offending object come down right into Ryo-o-ki's open hand. Without a second thought, the little girl popped the carrot into her mouth and chewed it up.

On the other side of the platform, Aeka was jumping up and down inside a ring of reporters and photographers, trying to see what was going on.

"What is going on? Someone, please let me see!"

As Tenchi took in great breaths to re-oxygenate his depleted bloodstream, his face soon returned to its normal color. The two girls continued to stare down at him, concern etched on their faces. Sasami extended a hand down to help him up.

"I can manage."

The hand was quickly withdrawn. After a few more breaths, Tenchi felt the beginnings of anger stirring in the pit of his stomach. He had told Ryoko more times than he could remember, not to do what she has just done. This time it had almost cost him his life. With a grunt, he sat up. He took only a quick pause, then stood, fixing his stern glare on Ryoko, who was beginning to realize she was in trouble.

"Ryoko, how many times have I told you not to do that?"

Ryoko was suddenly having a great deal of difficulty meeting Tenchi's gaze. She tried to look everywhere but at him.

"I... uh, wasn't counting?"

"Well, I'm telling you, again. Don't scare me like that! I could have died!"

Ryoko cringed as Tenchi verbally chastised her for her behavior. She kept her eyes from his face so she would not have to see the look of anger he was directing at her. There was a time long ago, when she would have relished the response she was getting, and the way it made her feel inside. Now, she hated being yelled at.

"Sorry..."

Tenchi sighed as he turned around and folded his arms over his chest. It was only with great difficulty that he reigned in his anger. He did not like yelling. But sometimes it was the only way to get through to certain people.

"Sorry isn't good enough, Ryoko."

On the other side of the platform, Aeka had heard every word of Tenchi and Ryoko's little tiff. She had patiently tried asking the people around her to stand aside. But, none of them had complied. Now she had no choice but to use more influential means. Reporters and cameramen went flying as she roughly shoved them aside so that she could get to epicenter of the disturbance. Once the way was finally clear, she angrily strode across the platform.

"Do you want me to beg?" Ryoko swiped the back of her hand across her face, wiping away any sign of tears. "Well, I won't. I don't beg from anybody, not even you."

Tenchi sighed.

"No, Ryoko. I don't want you to beg. I just wish you would do what I ask."

Ryoko took a step forward so she could put her arms around Tenchi and apologize as only she could. But before she could get there, Aeka grabbed her by the hair and tossed her across the platform.

"Get your filthy hands off of Lord Tenchi, you creature of death!"

Ryoko turned in the air and nimbly landed on her feet in a crouch.

"You bitch! I was trying to apologize!"

"Apologize by leaving Lord Tenchi alone!"

"Get out of my way, Aeka!"

The princess drew herself up in defiance.

"Make me."

With a growl, Ryoko launched herself at Aeka. Tenchi did not even bother to turn around. The sounds of combat clearly indicated that Ryoko and Aeka were fighting again. Instead, he turned to the off-ramp and walked quickly away towards where he had last seen Washu. Sasami took off after Tenchi as he drearily walked away.

"Tenchi, where are we going?"

"Sasami, I'm going home. I'll see you back at the Academy in a couple weeks."

"But... Tenchi..."

As they rounded a corner in the underground hallway that they had emerged from less than an hour ago, they saw Washu kneeling over the shattered remains of her mechanical toys.

"All my beautiful devices, smashed..."

"Washu." Tenchi called to her. The kneeling scientist paid him no mind.

"But, I did get some valuable data, and I can always make more."

"Washu!"

The mourning scientist looked over her shoulder at the intrusion.

"Huh? Oh, hi. Sorry, I was, uh..." She looked down at the mess, then looked back at Tenchi with a playful smile. "I was just cleaning up!"

"I'm sorry to be such a bother. But, could you send me back home to Okayama?"

"Sure, sure!" Washu assured him as she got to her feet. "But, what about Dumb and Dumber?"

There was a bit of a pause as Tenchi thought about what he wanted to say.

"I hate it when they fight over me." With a mournful sigh, Tenchi reiterated his desire to go home. "Little Washu, could you please just send me home?"

Seeing that her beloved guinea pig was in no mood for a discussion, Washu decided some peace and quiet might be just what he needed. Summoning her holographic terminal, she began typing away.

"All right, Tenchi. If that's what you want..."

A few seconds later, a red rectangle appeared suspended in the air before them.

"This portal opens into your bedroom in Okayama. It's only temporary, though. It'll disappear just as soon as I close it down."

Tenchi sighed with gratitude.

"Thank you, Little Washu. I... just need some time away from everybody." Tenchi looked Sasami's way to include her in the request he was about to make. "Would the two of you make sure Ryoko and Aeka don't get into too much trouble while I'm gone?"

Washu's eyes began to gleam.

"I promise we'll keep them out of trouble."

"Thank you, both. I'll see you in a couple of weeks."

With that, Tenchi stepped through the gate and disappeared just in time to avoid Ryoko and Aeka as they came clamoring down the ramp, searching for their beloved.

"Tenchi?"

"Lord Tenchi?"

Washu dismissed the interdimensional gate with a single tap of her terminal. Sasami leaned in closer to whisper a question.

"Washu, how are we going to keep them out of trouble if Tenchi couldn't do it?"

Washu just grinned as the two love-struck young ladies approached.

"Trust me." She continued in a louder voice so that Ryoko and Aeka could hear.

"Hey, are you two looking for Tenchi?"

"You seen him?" Ryoko asked.

"Yes, Lord Tenchi seems to have disappeared again."

"Well, have no worries! I've got just the thing!"

With a couple of taps on her keyboard, a small black iris opened in mid-air. Two neckbands floated out into Washu's waiting hands. They were quite fancy, with gold and ruby ornamentation.

"This is one of my recent inventions. Since one or more of us always seems to be disappearing, I decided to invent a telepathic tracking device! Just put one of these on and think of whoever you want to find, and you'll know instantly what direction and how far away that person is!"

"Oh, my!" Aeka exclaimed. "Such a device would be very useful!"

"If it works." Ryoko griped.

"Oh, it works." Washu smiled. "I tried it out, myself. Go ahead. Put it on!"

Floating in the air, Ryoko reached out and grabbed one. Aeka soon followed suit.

"What the Hell. If you tried it on yourself, at least I know it won't hurt anybody."

"I always did like rubies." Aeka mentioned as she admired the device's beauty.

"Come on, come on! The longer you wait, the longer it'll take to track down Tenchi."

Sasami remained impassive as her sister and friend put the lovely devices around their necks. Washu's smile grew very wide as the girls closed their eyes and began concentrating on Tenchi. Ryoko groaned with annoyance.

"I knew it."

"Miss Washu, it doesn't appear to be working."

"That's because the two devices are so close together, they're interfering with each other." The creator of the wonderful tracking device walked over to Aeka and slipped an arm around hers.

"Let walk a few steps away from Ryoko."

"Very well. But if this fails, I'll leave without your help."

"Trust me. It'll work exactly as it's intended to."

As the pair of women walked away, Aeka suddenly lurched to a stop, choking as the neckband refused to go any further.

"What is this?" She asked, rubbing her throat. "This is no tracking device! It's a collar!"

Washu began cackling her mirth at having fooled the rambunctious pair.

"That's right! Tenchi said I should keep you and Ryoko out of trouble! I think this ought to do it. If either of you tries to move more than two meters from the other, the device around your neck absolutely will not cooperate. So, you're stuck with each other until I decide to take it off."

Aeka immediately became indignant with such an imposition.

"Miss Washu! I demand you remove this infernal device at once! I must depart for my training voyage with Ryuo! How am I supposed to concentrate with this woman constantly at my side?"

Ryoko began clawing at the band that was tightly wrapped around her neck. Strangely, she could not get her fingers under the band, or use her powers of phasing or teleportation to remove it.

"Washu, take it off!"

"Forget it!" Washu glared at the floating girl. "You've two girls have been bad, and this is your punishment!"

"TAKE IT OFF!"

Washu's eyes grew wide as her daughter dropped to the ground. She had not been expecting Ryoko to freak-out like this.

"I hate collars! I hate 'em! I hate 'em! I hate 'em!"

Seeing how upset Ryoko was getting as she clawed at her neck, Sasami grew concerned.

"Washu, is this a good idea?"

"She'll be fine. Give her a couple minutes to get used to it."

A golden light began to build around Ryoko as she loudly voiced her opposition to the punishment.

"I hate it!"

"I think I'll be going." Sasami went and hid.

"I HATE IT!"

"Farewell." Aeka quickly joined her sister as Washu looked on.

**"I HATE IT!"**

"Oh, boy." Washu began looking for where Sasami had hidden herself.

A small portion of the Royal Spaceport of Ryuten was suddenly engulfed in a massive fireball, leaving nothing behind but twisted metal and splintered wood. Amongst the rubble, Ryoko knelt in the center of a two hundred meter wide clearing, crying like a little girl. The other three, Washu, Sasami, and Aeka, lay in the twisted remains, covered with soot. Sasami coughed a couple of times to clear her throat.

"Washu, are you sure this is a good idea?"

A puff of smoke came out of Washu's mouth as she tried to speak.

"I'll get back to you on that."

A wooden beam fell away, revealing the sooty First Princess.

"Why me?"

Ryoko sat on the ground between two roots of the Royal Tree, Ryuo, which had, once again, grown large and strong. As the stars flew by, she grew incredible bored. Aeka was standing just inside the collars' maximum range of two meters, apparently doing nothing.

"Come one, Aeka! I'm bored! How much longer do I have to sit here?"

"If you knew anything about Royal Trees, I might try to explain it to you."

Ryoko sat up.

"Are you saying I'm too stupid to understand?"

Aeka tried dividing her attention between commanding her ship, and maintaining her conversation with Ryoko. Ryuo's velocity soon began to decrease.

"No. I will concede that you have proven your intellectual capabilities over the last year."

"So, then?"

Aeka finally relaxed, allowing Ryuo to slow to a stop. The stars stopped streaking as the ship's velocity decreased further.

"It's training! I have already told you that any number of times. Just like any other instrument, one must practice using it."

"An instrument?" Ryoko's eyes narrowed as she found something that struck a sour chord with her. "Aren't Royal Trees alive?"

"That is correct."

Ryoko growled at Aeka.

"Then what gives you the right to use a living being as a tool?"

"Tsunami gave the Royal Trees to the Jurai Royal Family for our protection. The first King of Jurai was a space-pirate. He befriended Tsunami, who then swore to always protect him and his descendants. She gave the Jurai ships to him to do with as he pleased."

"Oh, really? Did anyone think to ask the tree what it thinks about being a slave?"

It had never occurred to Aeka that the Royal Trees might actually have an opinion on their positions as fighting vessels in service to Jurai.

"Well, I never really thought about that."

Looking up at her tree, Aeka decided to do just that. Her key glowed for a moment as she relayed to question to Ryuo. When Aeka received her answer, she smiled with smug satisfaction.

"Ryuo says it is his purpose to serve the Royal Family, and that he is very proud to be bonded to the First Princess."

Ryoko slowly got to her feet and dusted herself off. She met Aeka's gaze as she straightened.

"Well, I guess if Ryuo says it's all right..."

"He does."

"Okay. So, how about lunch?"

Ryoko smiled with amusement when Aeka's stomach growled its agreement.

Lunch was an equally boring affair. Aeka clamed-up about the Royal Trees, even though Ryuo had created a fabulous meal out of nothing. They sat at a circular wooden table in the middle of a huge field of flowers in silence, until Ryoko had finally had enough. She slammed her fist down on the table, nearly upending the entire surface. Aeka stared at her in annoyance.

"What now?"

"This is BORING! B-O-R-I-N-G, boring! Let's play a game, or something!"

"A game, you say?" Aeka's eyes narrowed as she came up with an appropriate activity that would both satisfy Ryoko's craving for interaction, as well as show her own superiority. "Very well, Miss Ryoko. Are you familiar with chess?"

"Huh?"

"No? Well, that is too bad. It is a game that requires sharp wits, as well as intense concentration."

"How long does it last?"

"A good game could last hours."

"Perfect! Show me how."

"Very well." With but a mental command, the remains of their midday meal were swept away, and a fully set chess board took its place. Ryoko stared at the thirty-two pieces with a look of complete ignorance.

"Uh..."

"The object of this game is to surround the king," Aeka placed a hand on the white king, which was nearest to her, "so that it cannot make a legal move. This is called check-mate."

"What about illegal moves?"

"Breaking the rules is not allowed."

"Okay, okay. So, how do you play?"

"Play is conducted by moving the pieces in accordance with their type. Any piece can capture any opposing piece by moving into the square occupied by the other player's piece. The pieces in the front row are called pawns. Normally, they can move forward only one space, except on the pawn's first move, when it can move two spaces. Also, pawns can only capture an opposing piece by moving one space, diagonally. For example," Aeka took one of her pawns and set it diagonally ahead of one of Ryoko's pawns, "if one of my pawns was here, you would capture it like so." She moved Ryoko's pawn into the space her pawn was occupying and then removed her pawn and set it aside, off of the game board.

"Okay. Move ahead, kill ahead and to the side. Move one space at a time. Got it. What about these other guys?" She picked up one of the queens and carefully examined the caricature.

"The piece you are holding is called a queen. It is the most valuable piece, as it can move both straight and diagonally, any number of spaces. It is the only piece you have capable of both directions of movement, except the king, which starts next to the queen."

"Although the king can move in any direction, it can move only one space at a time. So you must protect it. When a player moves a piece so as to threaten the other player's king, that player announces the threat by declaring check."

"Check, okay. Can I kill other pieces with my king?"

Aeka grimaced at Ryoko's use of the word kill.

"Yes, although I would not recommend using it for such purposes."

"We'll see."

"No doubt." Aeka began to wonder what kind of strategy Ryoko would employ to play this game. "The pieces on the ends that look like small castles or towers are called rooks. The may move any number of spaces in a straight line forward and back, or side to side. Next to them, ah... I'll cover those in a moment."

"Hey, you've gotta explain everything. No cheating!"

"I am not cheating! Those pieces are called knights, and they are more difficult to explain, so I'm saving them for last."

"Yeah, sure."

Aeka reigned in her growing annoyance at Ryoko's prodding, despite the ex-pirate's large grin.

"The pieces on either side of the king and queen are bishops. They may move any number of spaces on the diagonals."

"Makes sense. What about the knights?"

"The knights move in an unusual pattern. First they are the only piece capable of jumping over other pieces."

"Sure. They're on horses."

Aeka just smiled at the simplicity of Ryoko's thinking. Surely, she would be an easy opponent.

"As you say. They move in a one-two or two-one pattern, as I like to think of it."

Ryoko looked up in confusion.

"Like so." Aeka took one of her knights and advanced it ahead two spaces and to the left one space. "Alternately, I could have moved it in this manner." She put the knight back in its original space, then moved it ahead two spaces and right one space.

"Oh!" Ryoko face suddenly showed the light of understanding. "So it could move up one and over two."

"Yes. It can move in any direction, so long as it moves in that pattern. Also, all of the pieces except the pawns may move backwards."

"Yeah, sure. I got it. Who's first?"

"Which ever person is playing white."

"How come you got white?"

"You may go first, if you wish. It makes little difference to me."

"Okay." Ryoko raised a hand to pick up a piece. The hand waved over the board for a moment, until she realized that the only way to move any of the pieces in the back row except for a knight, was to move the pawns, first. Her grumbles of disappointment were music to Aeka's ears.

She could remember when, as a child learning chess from her grandmother, Seto, she had been confounded and beaten any number of times, until she had learned the game well enough to defeat her. Aeka was soon brought out of her reverie when Ryoko began mumbling to herself.

"Move the pieces to trap the king, eh? What if I kill all your pieces, except for the king?"

Aeka just smiled. The strategy Ryoko was suggesting was so typical of a beginner. It suited her temperament, perfectly.

"Well, as it is impossible to win the game with only a king remaining, I suppose I would have to concede the game. Unless, you also had insufficient pieces left to win. Then it would be a draw."

Ryoko finally came to a decision. Her right hand descended and she moved her queen's rook's pawn ahead two spaces.

"Your turn."

Barely half an hour later, Ryoko stared forlornly at her decimated army. Only her king, a single rook and knight remained, and two pawns. She had lost control over one side of her territory, and Aeka was looking very smug. The princess still had most of her pieces, although only one of her pawns remained. Aeka had taken her by surprise when she had reached the other side of the board with one of her pawns, and then sprung a new rule on her that allowed her to reclaim her taken queen. In response Ryoko had attacked all her pawns destroying them systematically, to the detriment of her own army.

"Would you like to start a new game, Miss Ryoko?"

"No." Ryoko quickly answered. She was determined to finish the game, even if she lost.

"Why waste your time? The game will be over with in four turns."

Ryoko growled at Aeka's smug look. The princess was sitting with her hands politely folded in her lap, the picture of perfect etiquette.

"Game's not over yet." Ryoko could see the play Aeka was referring to, and a way out of it that, unfortunately, would require her to sacrifice one of her pieces, either the knight or a pawn. She had found that if she simply looked in every direction away from where she wanted to move one of her pieces, she could find any threats to her pieces' movements easily enough. But after a couple moves into the future, predicting the princess's movements became more difficult. But, breaking out of Aeka's trap would surely rattle her cage. Then things would be easier. With a smile, Ryoko moved her king into the space occupied by Aeka's last remaining pawn.

Another twenty minutes later, Aeka was nearly in tears. Her hair stuck out at odd angles, and the key upon her brow was slightly skewed. Ryoko had handily escaped the trap she had set, and then proceeded to decimate her entire army after regaining her queen and a rook by getting both of her remaining pawns to the opposite side of the board. Needless to say, the situation looked grim. It would not have been so bad losing, if only Ryoko would stop smiling and giggling. Her gloating was positively unnerving.

"Will you stop that laughing? As you were so quick to say, the game is not over."

"Sorry! I just can't help it!" Instead of quieting, Ryoko's giggling intensified, eliciting a groan from the princess.

Despite her bravado, Aeka had a sinking feeling that the game really would be over in a couple turns. Having such powerful pieces put back in play on Ryoko's side was truly daunting. Ryoko had used them, and her other rook, to cut the board in half, then half again, cornering her king. If she moved her rook forward one more space, Aeka would be forced to move her king directly into a corner, where there was no escape. Even having both her knights and a bishop remaining, she was having difficulty defending herself due to the knights' limited range. Just as Aeka was coming to terms with what looked very much like a loss, her guardian robots appeared. Azaka immediately explained the reason for their presence.

"Princess, we are receiving a distress signal!"

Aeka breathed a sigh of relief, even as Ryoko leapt up, angry for having her win interfered with.

"What?! No way! I was winning!" Ryoko leveled an accusing finger at Aeka. "You did this on purpose!"

Aeka choose to ignore Ryoko's outburst. The interruption could not have come at a better time.

"To the bridge, Miss Ryoko. If the call is genuine, then we must offer assistance."

Ryoko growled loudly.

"You just wait! I'm not play so nice, next time!"

"We shall see. Kamidake, alter course to intercept."

"Immediately, Princess."

The sudden change of course from the autopilot-set direction caused gravity in the ship to shift for a moment. The sound of something falling caused Aeka to look back at the round wooden table where she and Ryoko had spent the last two hours. The white king had fallen over. Aeka sighed.

"Next time, indeed."

Three generation of Masaki men sat around a blazing campfire, high in the mountains of Okayama Prefecture, telling jokes and reminiscing about the last four years. Since Tenchi's twentieth birthday had come and gone while he was at the Galaxy Academy, his elders were very insistent that he partake of the sake they had brought along.

"So, son." Nobuyuki looked at his son with a gleam in his eye as he poured Tenchi a drink. "How's it feel to have your first legal drink?"

Tenchi just shrugged.

"I don't see what the big deal is."

"Living with those girls for so long, I'm surprised you haven't turned into an alcoholic!"

"No way, Dad. I don't even really like the taste of alcohol. Although, I don't mind a warm cup of sake on special occasions."

A third of the way around the fire, Lord Katsuhito Masaki sat on a large stone he had pulled up to the fire.

"Would you call this a special occasion, Tenchi?"

"Yes, I would." Tenchi took a sip of his sake.

"And what do you think of this special brand?"

Tenchi exhaled sharply. His answer was only supported by half a breath.

"Very nice."

His grandfather and father laughed. It was Katsuhito who finally broached the subject of Tenchi's sudden return.

"Well, we're certainly glad to welcome you home, Tenchi. It must be a very special occasion, indeed, if you have come back so suddenly and without warning."

Tenchi stared into his sake for a minute. Neither of them had asked yet why he had come back, not that he was complaining. Of course, Mihoshi had been thrilled to see him again. For a moment, he had thought she would pull a Ryoko and jump right on him, she had looked so happy. Fortunately, she was too shy to do that. Tenchi sighed as he remembered the fight that his girlfriends had gotten in to on Ryuten.

"Ryoko and Aeka are fighting again."

"Mmm." Murmurs of understanding emanated from his elders as they sat around the campfire.

"It was right at the ceremony for launching Ryuo. I got mad at Ryoko, and when Aeka heard me yelling at her, she got mad at Ryoko. You can guess how it went from there."

Katsuhito looked at his grandson with disappointment. He had hoped he would be better able to deal with the young women once he was older. It seemed that he had yet to learn their hearts.

"So you ran."

"Yes." Tenchi admitted, hanging his head.

"You are going back, aren't you?"

"Of course I am. I just..."

Katsuhito continue to stare at Tenchi as he fell back into silence.

"What else?"

"It's... a long story."

"Well, we seem to have plenty of time."

"And sake." Nobuyuki held out the bottle to Tenchi, who gratefully accepted a refill. He slugged back the smooth liquid, then held his saucer out for more.

"It's my fault. I... After Ryoko and I got together, I thought everything would just resolve itself. I made the big choice, and everything was supposed to work out, right? Fat chance. Every time I... looked at Aeka, I felt like I had done something wrong. She... looked like she was suffering. Like, she was dying, a little bit each day."

Nobuyuki stared at his son in shock.

"You didn't?"

"When I finally asked her why she had stayed with me, she said it was because she couldn't give up on me. Grandfather, I'm sorry. I don't know if I've made the right choice. But, I couldn't go on hurting Aeka like that."

The light from the fire was suddenly eclipsed by Tenchi's grandfather. He looked up, then fell over backwards when he saw the angry expression on his grandfather's face.

"Tenchi, if you have slept with my sister out of pity..."

"No! I love Aeka! Just... not in quite the same way as Ryoko. I love them both."

After a moment of consideration, the elder Masaki's expression softened. He decided to offer his grandson some sage advice.

"Very well, Tenchi. But remember this. Aeka is also my sister. Do nothing to dishonor her, or our family."

"No, Grandfather." Tenchi assured his grandfather as he sat up. "I only wanted to do what was right. I care about Aeka too much to keep on hurting her. But, now things are back to the way they were. I didn't want this to happen."

Tenchi began searching for his fallen sake saucer as his father released the breath he had been holding.

"Well! That's some confession."

Tenchi continued on, ignoring his father's well-meaning attempts to lighten the situation.

"You know, I thought the same thing about Ryoko when I finally realized how I feel about her. You don't suppose everything will still work out, do you?"

Katsuhito reached over and took his cup from where he had set it down. He delivered his next statement with uncommon coolness, even for him.

"You do realize that Aeka will rightly demand that you marry her?"

Tenchi fell off his log again. Nobuyuki looked at his father-in-law in shock.

"She will?"

"Yup."

Staring up at the stars from his place, horizontal behind the log, Tenchi contemplated his future, once more.

"Grandpa?"

"Yes, Tenchi?"

"What about Ryoko?"

"You have no choice. If you refuse Aeka's hand, and the King discovers she is no longer pure, he will come for your head. If he does, even I will not be able to stop him."

"I... guess I wouldn't blame him for being angry. But, I won't abandon Ryoko. Even if it means my death."

Tenchi's father chuckled.

"Sounds like true love to me."

"Come on, Dad! This is serious!" Tenchi complained as he sat up again. "I don't want to abandon either of them. I never wanted to choose one of them over the other. But... I couldn't help it. I made a choice based on my feelings for Ryoko. I don't regret that. I spoke with Aeka, and I thought things would be all right. She said she had been expecting it for a while, and she even wished me the best. She was upset, and cried a little. But, she insisted that she would be all right! I didn't realize that she was... well, lying. Sometimes, I think that she should have stayed here, or gone back to Jurai. But, now I know there was a lot more going on than any of us realized. I love Ryoko. But I also love Aeka, even if it isn't in the same way. I care about both of them too much to abandon either of them. If only there was some way..." Tenchi paused as something began to rattle around in his mind; a memory from a year ago.

"Sasami."

"You know, son, I think she might be a little young for you."

"Not like that! Grandpa, Sasami asked me last year if I was going to marry both Aeka and Ryoko. The King of Jurai has two wives! How is that possible?"

Katsuhito groaned one of his trademark groans; the long drawn out one that meant he was contemplating something he would much rather not be thinking about.

"Mmm. I can tell you, Tenchi. But you will not like what I have to say."

"Please, Grandfather, tell me. I want to do the right thing for both Ryoko and Aeka."

"Very well."

Aeka stood on the bridge of Ryuo, staring at the image on the main display. One ship, obviously an expensive pleasure yacht, was being assaulted by a ship that looked very similar to a Jurai ship. There was a central core-block, and the hull appeared to be fashioned from wood. However, since the image before her was rather large, both she and Ryoko could easily identify the vessel.

"Hey. Isn't that Minagi's ship, Hina... Hine... uh..."

"Hinase. It is named after a Jurai Empress of great renown. Kamidake, open communications."

"Immediately, Princess."

"Attention, pirate vessel. This is First Princess Aeka Masaki Jurai. Surrender at once or I will open fire!"

Ryoko promptly slapped an arm around Aeka's neck, establishing a firm head-lock on the princess.

"What the hell, Aeka?" She ground her knuckles into the princess's skull for emphasis. "I thought Minagi was supposed to be our friend?"

Minagi's smiling face immediately popped up on the display.

"Hi, Aeka!" As soon as she saw Aeka and Ryoko struggling against each other, Minagi began to laugh.

"I could swear you two like each other more than Tenchi!"

Both women looked at Minagi's smiling face for a second before jumping away from each other. Ryoko folded her arms across her chest while Aeka nervously rubbed her hands together.

"Hell, no!" Ryoko denied. "What would I want with an ugly old princess like her?

Aeka was quick to respond to the insult with one of her own, along with a look of disgust thrown in for good measure.

"What interest could a princess have with a decrepit old corpse like her?"

"Corpse? Who are you calling a corpse, you hag!?"

"Excuse me? I am much younger than you, and it shows!"

Ryoko's jaw dropped.

"That's not fair..."

Suddenly, another face appeared on the display in a separate screen. Aeka promptly groaned. The face was that of one of the most powerful businessmen in the empire, Biff Standard.

"Your Royal Highness! Your assistance is much appreciated. This criminal has maliciously assaulted my vessel, causing extensive damage! I demand that she be arrested, immediately!"

Now that this kind of person was involved, there was little Aeka could do except follow the letter of Galactic law.

"Miss Minagi, piracy is illegal. Why do you insist on committing such crimes?"

"Come on, Aeka. I only target bad guys, remember?"

The businessman immediately objected to the label Minagi was applying to him.

"Who are you calling a bad guy? I am an honest businessman on a vacation cruise."

"Oh, really?" Minagi reached out of the view of her picture and retrieved a large assault rifle. "Then why are you carrying guns in your hold?"

Biff's eyes went wide.

"How did you get that? Oh, if only your ship were equipped with my latest software, I could have taken control of your vessel by remote control!"

"Fat chance! My master designed and built this ship, himself! Your dirty programs will never get installed in his ship!"

Aeka and Ryoko watched the exchange with exhausted interest.

"Uh, excuse me..." Aeka finally broke into the conversation. "Miss Minagi, are you saying that you got that gun from Mister Standard's ship?"

"Sure did! He's got boxes of 'em stashed away in secret compartments!"

"Mister Standard, is this true?"

"Of course not! Pirates have tons of such weapons. I'm sure it's from her personal supply."

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Enough! Miss Minagi, surrender yourself at once! Both of you heave to and prepare to be boarded. I am going to personally inspect both of your vessels for contraband."

Both captains seemed initially surprised at this. Soon, they both got over their surprise and smiled. Although, Minagi's smile seemed much more sincere.

"Sure! Come on over. We'll have tea."

"Tea, indeed." Biff complained. "Your Royal Highness shall find that I am in complete compliance with the Galaxy Code."

Aeka responded with grim enthusiasm.

"I look forward to it." With a nod of her head, Aeka indicated that the conversation was over. Both screens disappeared, revealing the starscape that had been concealed underneath.

Ryoko snorted her displeasure.

"Tsk. Who the Hell was that guy?"

"That... disagreeable chap, is named Biff Standard, and he is one of the wealthiest men in the galaxy. I find it difficult to believe he would be involved in something as stupid as gun-running."

"You'd be surprised at what some of those supposedly clean corporate big-wigs do on the side."

"I'm sure. But on his own personal pleasure yacht? That makes no sense."

"So, are we going to go take a look?"

"Yes, indeed. In fact, you may actually prove useful, for once."

Ryoko casually pointed to herself.

"Hey, I'm useful!"

Aeka, Ryoko, and Minagi appeared on the bridge of Biff Standard's ship by means of the twin women's teleportation ability. Biff turned from his command console to see what the commotion was about. When he saw his attacker, he grew a bit indignant.

"What is SHE doing here?" He rudely pointed a finger at Minagi. Aeka already had an answer prepared.

"I couldn't very well leave her unsupervised, now could I?"

While Biff was not terribly happy about the situation, there was not much he could do about it. He lowered his hand and took a calming breath.

"No. I suppose not. Well!" With an expansive gesture and a bow, he properly welcomed his visitors. "Welcome aboard the Luxury Edition!"

The girls groaned at the name.

"If you would please follow me, I will be happy to give a tour!" Biff began to lead the three girls toward the door. "However, I must insist that everyone stay with me. There are security systems on board that could cause injury if they are not properly deactivated."

As the tour commenced, Ryoko leaned a little closer to Aeka.

"Something's fishy."

Minagi overheard and offered her own opinion.

"I'm telling you, he's a bad guy!"

"Then let him prove it."

Ryoko grinned.

"I getcha."

As Biff led them through the expansive ship, pointing out this and that as they went, Minagi began to grow impatient.

"You gonna show us the hold, or what?"

"My dear lady. This is a pleasure ship. I don't even have a storage hold."

"Liar! It's right next to the engine room!"

"Oh! You must be referring to the extended range fuel tanks. Those are an option I choose to have installed when I purchased the vessel."

"I see." It seemed a reasonable explanation to the princess. But Minagi's growl just behind her indicated otherwise.

"He just won't stop! Those 'fuel tanks' are filled with weapons and stuff."

Aeka carefully weighed the validity of what Minagi was saying. As a member of the royal family, it was her duty to see to such problems. Technically, it was not actually her responsibility to monitor space lanes for illegal activity. That was the province of the Galaxy Police. There was also the problem of the distress call. However, since the attack had been halted, all that was left was to hold Minagi for piracy. Aeka sighed. Such a thing is easier said than done.

"I will inspect the fuel tanks, as well."

Biff folded his arms across his chest.

"They're sealed. There's no way to get in."

Finally, after having kept quiet for so long, Ryoko spoke.

"Bullcrap."

Everyone turned to look at her.

"Every ship has a way to get into the fuel tanks specifically so they CAN be inspected. It's an old smugglers' trick. Slap on some extra fuel tanks and use them to transport contra-band. Then, all you have to do is fix the fuel gauges so they read fuel in the tanks."

Biff ran a handkerchief across hid forehead to wipe away the droplets of sweat that were running down his brow.

"Ah, I wasn't aware of that. I am just a businessman, after all."

Minagi was looking at Ryoko like she was the goddess Tsunami, herself.

"Cool! I never knew about the fuel gauges!"

"That's because you're still a beginner."

Aeka groaned.

"I believe we have an inspection to conduct? Mister Standard, would you show the way, please?"

Still nervously wiping his brow, their tour guide reluctantly complied.

"Of course."

He slowly led them into the bowels of the ship, where the fuel tank supposedly resided. They soon arrived at a small, yet, well-lit white room with a pair of control panels on the right wall.

"Miss Ryoko, this seems to be your area of expertise. Is there anything here that would lead you to believe something is amiss?"

Ryoko grinned.

"So... now I'm useful, huh?"

Aeka grimaced.

"If this is too difficult for you, I'm sure Miss Minagi will be willing to step in."

"Oh, no." Minagi promptly declined the invitation. "Ryoko's way better at pirate stuff than I am. It's a privilege to watch the master at work!"

Aeka rubbed at her temples, trying to make the aching in her head go away.

"Spare me, please."

Ryoko took a look around. The control panels were the only things in the room, other than the occupants. One panel appeared to be the fuel monitor and control panel. The other had a numeric keypad, leading her to believe it was some sort of security control panel. A quick glance told her all she needed to know about the fuel panel. The gauges read about half-full. No surprises there.

"So, what do you need with stuff like this?" Ryoko asked as she tapped the edge of the security panel.

"It's for protection against any pirates that might try to take my ship. Makes sense, doesn't it?"

"I suppose. If it was someplace you could actually get to it, rather than down here where any self-respecting corporate executive like you would never go. Ah, well." Ryoko folded her hands behind her head. "Doesn't really matter since I don't know the code."

Taking a short stroll around the room, the ex-pirate stopped at the wall opposite from the door. She paused for a second, then stuck her arm through the blank face. Biff held his breath.

Bong-bong-bong!

The sound of Ryoko's knuckles clanging against the far side of the wall rang hollow. She smiled.

"Oh, yeah. Lots of fuel in there."

"Open it." Aeka demanded.

Biff gave Ryoko an angry look before responding to the princess.

"Now, see here."

"No, you listen to me. In the absence of proper civil authorities, in this case the Galaxy Police, the authority of the Jurai Royal Family is absolute. You will open that tank for my inspection, at once!"

Biff sighed.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." He cautioned the First Princess as he walked to the security panel. A few taps later, and the wall Ryoko was standing against began to lever upwards towards the blank ceiling. The chamber within was long and unlit. The far side remained black as pitch, until the wall was over half-way up. At the far end, there were several closed storage containers, and a single glowing red light, the size of a pin-point. The was the sound of a motor spooling up to speed, and Biff dove to the chamber floor.

Being somewhat naive about such things, Aeka stood staring into the space, her eyes wide at all the sudden motion. Fortunately, her space-pirate companions knew better.

"A trap!"

The small space was suddenly filled with flashing beams as lasers hissed through the air in a smooth, rapid succession that only a machine could produce. Biff Standard shrieked in terror before crawling on his belly towards the relative cover of one of the containers. The energy bolts splashed harmlessly off of Ryoko's energy shield while she looked on in disdain. This certainly was not anything to worry about. The beams sprayed around her for a few seconds, then came suddenly to a halt. The mechanical whirring soon ceased as well, leaving behind only the reek of ozone, and an enemy's curse.

"CHU!"

Ryoko almost fell over.

"No... way..."

The mechanical voice carried on without her.

"Standard, you chu-ing moron! Off all the people you had to run into, why them!?"

Aeka took a deep breath, and it was not because she recognized the murderous pirate's squeaky voice. At the moment, she was experiencing a wave of dizziness. As she was trying to fight off the ill feeling, Ryoko found her voice.

"Mikamo! You pathetic bastard! How the hell did you survive?"

"You know what your chu-est problem is? You're dumb! I'm a machine! I can make an infinite number of copies of myself! Of course, it wouldn't do to run into them. So, there's only one of me running at a time."

Ryoko glared at the robot that was still hovering in the darkness as she cracked her knuckles.

"Well, there's about to be one less of you."

Minagi choose that particular break in conversation to get acquainted with the details of who they were dealing with.

"Ah, pardon me. Do you two know each other?"

"Unfortunately." They both answered.

While Ryoko and Mikamo faced each other, there was a period of silence that allowed those present to hear Aeka's exercise in deep breathing. Being the closest to Aeka, Minagi took a quick look at her face. She was surprised to see the princess was very pale.

"Aeka?"

Aeka would have answered. But Minagi's voice seemed very far away. So far, in fact, that it could not possibly be important enough to answer. A moment later, she forgot about holding herself up, and tumbled to the floor right in front of Minagi.

"Aeka!"

Ryoko quickly looked back to see what had happened. The soft whir of an electric motor was the only warning she received of the coming attack. The room was once more filled with laser beams and the accompanying smell of burned air. Ryoko instantly connected Aeka's swoon with the attack, thinking Mikamo had somehow orchestrated the event to provide him with another opportunity to kill them.

"MIKAMO!!" Ryoko charged through the air with an angry shout, her shield preceding her to fend off the energy bolts blazing her way. Exactly two meters from where Aeka had fallen, Washu's collar nearly took her head off. A massive surge of rage at being held back from her enemy flooded her system. Ryoko struggled wildly to get past the infuriating spatial limit of the collar. In front of her, the laser blasts stopped as a click-clunk sound accompanied the sight of a pair of missile racks deploying from Mikamo's side pods.

"As you can see, I've made some improvements. Chu hydronium!"

Two of the missiles ignited and leapt off their racks, headed right for Ryoko at point blank range. Biff, who had been cowering at the base of a storage crate panicked when he realized Mikamo was going to use acid-filled rockets. He scrambled to his feet and ran right past Minagi, who was cradling Aeka in her lap. The young pirate took little notice of him, as she was more concerned with the princess' condition. Ryoko snatched the rockets out of the air with her bare hands and turned them so they were facing Mikamo.

"Back atcha!" She released the unguided projectiles, which sailed straight for the floating robot villain.

SMASH!

The rockets shattered on impact, spraying ultra-pure acid everywhere. The substance did nothing to Ryoko's shield. She knew what hydronium was and had erected the shield in anticipation of the mess. She watched with gleeful anticipation as the goop sloshed across the surrounding cargo containers. Much to her dismay, the same was occurring across from her.

"What!?"

"Chu. Glad I had that shield generator installed. That could have been messy." The rocket pods quickly retracted, leaving his mechanical skin smooth once more, except for the multi-barreled laser cannons.

"Hey, Ryoko?" Minagi called. "Why don't we forget about it. Let's just get back to the ship."

Ryoko turned around and looked at Minagi like she was crazy.

"Are you nuts?"

"Well, what did he ever do to us?"

It took Ryoko a couple of seconds to remember that Minagi knew nothing of the little trip to the nameless planet.

"Oh. Yeah, that's right. Well. This little pipsqueak tried to kill Tenchi!"

Minagi stood up with an angry scowl, allowing Aeka's head to bounce on the floor. Her energy sword snapped into being.

"I'll take the left, you take the right."

Ryoko grinned.

"Sounds good."

A large drop of water appeared on the right side of Mikamo's chassis.

"Uh-oh."

The lights went out.

"Huh?"

The raised wall began to descend, and clunks and groans could be heard all around them.

"What's going on?" Minagi asked.

"Standard, that chu-ing coward!!! He's trying to space us!! Not that it really matter to me, anyway."

"Aeka..." Ryoko sailed back towards the "fuel control" compartment on the other side of the rapidly lowering wall with Minagi right behind her. They phased through the metal wall without a second thought. Mikamo, on the other hand, was not so lucky. The sound of his metal manipulators clawing at the metal was clearly audible as he screeched vindictive epitaphs at them.

"You chu-ing bastards! I'll murder you! I'll chu you up and make transistors out of you! CHU! CHU!! CHU!!!"

A second bulkhead slammed down in front of the first, preventing the air within the ship from escaping when the tanks were jettisoned. There was a tremendous ker-thunk sound that echoed throughout the ship, then silence. Ryoko and Minagi stared at each other for a second with blank expressions.

"Oohh..."

The twins looked down to see Aeka was finally awakening.

"You okay?" Minagi asked.

"Yes... I... My. That was awful. All of a sudden, I began to feel quite ill. Not sick. Just... woozy."

Ryoko actually had the good grace to look concerned.

"You sure? You never know what kind of weird stuff that Mikamo might have put in the air."

Aeka opened her eyes to see the strange event of Ryoko showing concern for her well-being.

"Well. Now if only Lord Tenchi were here to see this."

The girls shared a laugh at that.

"Is he gone?" Biff asked as he carefully peered around the corner at them. Ryoko strode to where he was standing and snagged his white collared shirt.

"What kind of idiot teams up with a psycho like Mikamo?"

Aeka wearily climbed to her feet, half-expecting her strength would give out. Luckily, it did not.

"I have a compromise. Since Mister Standard has obviously seen the error of his ways..."

Biff nodded vigorously.

"...I have no problem if we simply forget about everything that has happened here."

"What about Mikamo?" Ryoko growled. "He's still floating around out there."

"Hmm... I believe Ryuo is still in need of a targeting system alignment."

That seemed to satisfy Ryoko. She released Biff's collar and even carefully folded the starched fabric back into place.

"All right. But don't let it happen again, 'kay?"

"Uh, right."

The three girls slowly faded from view as Aeka called on the power that would transport her and her companions back to her ship.

"Say, Aeka. Can I fire the weapons?"

"No."

Biff sighed when they were finally out of sight. That stupid psycho robot had almost gotten him killed. Even though he had lost the cargo, he still had something even more valuable than that: information.

He returned back to the bridge of the ship, heading immediately to the communications console. He cleared the security encryption routine he had had designed for the Luxury Edition's commo-suite, and selected his destination from a menu of options. After a delay of several seconds, the recipient appeared on his screen.

"What is it, Mister Standard?"

"We ran into space-pirates and the Jurai Royal Family on the way."

"And?"

"The robot guard went berserk and tried to kill them."

"Oh?" The narrow-faced man with spectacles on his nose seemed mildly entertained. "Did it succeed?"

"Of course not."

"Ah, well. It is too much to ask, considering who it was up against."

"Well, there's the problem."

The man's wavy silver hair seemed the rustle as he leered into the screen.

"The cargo?"

"The First Princess said something about target practice."

"What?"

The man's voice had the unusual capability of being able to exude menace without even trying.

"Since the cargo was destroyed, I might as well turn around and head back."

"Very well. However, you contracted to deliver my cargo to its destination. Since you have not done so, you will simply have to make the trip again."

"Uh, wait a minute."

"I think not. This set-back is quite troublesome. Now I'll have to make another prototype body for the Unity program. If you wish to remain in my good graces, you will do exactly as I say."

Biff could tell when another person was getting impatient or angry. The looks this man was sending him spoke of very bad things if he did not cooperate.

"Very well. But, I expect that your government will still purchase my software for use in all its computer systems, once the take-over is completed."

The silver-haired man with glasses smiled.

"Indeed. We will definitely use your software, Mister Standard."

Biff's eyes glittered with imagined worlds of completely standardized computer systems as the image of his business partner disappeared.

"I can see it now... everything... completely standardized. Ahh..."

On the bridge of Ryuo, Aeka and Ryoko were watching the converted fuel tanks from Biff's ship slowly tumble through space. Minagi was also watching, but from the bridge of her own ship, Hinase. A communications screen allowed them to talk as the final calibrations of Ryuo's weapons system were carried out.

"Hey, Aeka. Are you sure you really want to destroy those cargo containers?"

"Absolutely. Azaka, destroy that space junk with all due haste."

"Yes, Princess."

A beam of light streaked across the blank starscape and struck the tank, obliterating it. Suddenly, there was a secondary detonation that filled the screen with light for several seconds. Ryoko cheered as the blast wave washed through the ship.

"Suck on that, you little turd!"

"So, tell me, Miss Minagi. Was there some reason why I should not have blasted that abominable pirate into cosmic dust?"

"Mikamo? Nah. I don't care about him. It's just that the container in the corner of the tank was sealed. I couldn't phase into it, or pick the lock or anything."

"So?"

"Well, if you ask me, I think it looked like some sort of cryogenic storage chamber."

Aeka stared at the tiny sparkles of debris that were slowly floating out of view on the display.

"Well, I suppose it's too late, now."

END.

AFTERWORD: *: Tenju == The tree that the Jurai royal palace is in. The kanji mean Heaven Tree.

If you read closely, you'll find little mysteries like that cargo container spread throughout the story. Betcha wanna know what was in it, huh? Heh, heh, heh.

Some last minute changes I made to the final two scenes seemed to have a much more dramatic effect, I think.


	21. The Ties That Bind

****

INVASION, Volume 3, Part 5: The Ties That Bind.

DISCLAIMER: Tenchi Muyou! is copyright AIC/Pioneer, LDC. I claim no rights to it. However, the events in this story are entirely of my own imagination. So please don't change them. Feel free to distribute this story as freely as desired.

FOREWORD: Guaranteed lemon-free! After all the negative feed-back about the last couple of chapters, I wasn't sure I wanted to release this chapter without re-writing the preceding chapters. I have been working on a rewrite, but it's taking so long, I just couldn't wait any longer. Besides, this chapter has been nearly ready since February.

AUTHOR: Dreamr

LAST REVISION: 18 June 2003

EMAIL: TrueDreamr@Hotmail.com

BEGIN.

For having slept on the ground all night, Tenchi felt great. The morning was clear and cool. The birds were singing like their very lives depended on it. It was mornings like this that reminded Tenchi why he loved his home.

"Tenchi!"

The young man barely dodged an attack as his grandfather came in low, intending to crack a wooden bouken against the outside of his knee. With a short skip, Tenchi stepped over the blade of the bouken and then lashed out with his right foot. There was absolutely no one who could keep their hold on a weapon when it was kicked in this fashion. The back side of the wooden training sword smacked harmlessly against Tenchi's left calf muscle and then spun away torn from his grandfather's grasp and completely out of any possible attempt at retrieval. Unfortunately, his own weapon was out of place for a proper counter-attack. Before he can bring it into play, Katsuhito stepped up and in, driving the point of his shoulder into Tenchi's chest. Tenchi managed to keep his feet, but only by grabbing a hold of his grandfather's shirt. Normally, a cheap trick like that would never have worked against a seasoned veteran like Tenchi's grandfather. However, since he was already moving in that direction, he had little choice but to continue in that direction. Tenchi fell over backwards with his grandfather coming down on top of him. As they came down, Tenchi had the presence of mind to wrap his bouken around Katsuhito's neck. The older combatant tried to squirrel out of Tenchi's grasp. But as soon as he moved, he felt the blade pressing against his neck.

"It seems... you've finally won."

Tenchi held his breath for several seconds while his grandfather's admission soaked in.

"I won?"

"Yes."

Tenchi relaxed his hold, allowing Katsuhito to sit up in a more dignified position.

"It's too bad Ryoko isn't here to see it, eh?"

Tenchi chuckled as he imagined how she would react to this long-awaited victory. Beside him, Katsuhito Masaki slowly got to his feet.

"Well, why don't we call it a day?"

Tenchi did not bat an eyelash at the unexpected boon as he stood up.

"Okay."

Quickly gathering his shirt and bouken, he made a bee-line for the house, leaving his poor defeated grandfather standing in the middle of the training ground.

Once Tenchi was out of sight, Katsuhito walked to the large rock at the edge of the training area and sat with a groan. He was beginning to feel aches and pains in places he had never had them. There was no doubt in his mind that he was beginning to truly age. Ever since Tenchi had given Ryoko her gems back and interrupted the flow of energy to Funaho, he had felt a change in his tree. No longer were its thoughts quick and joyful. Funaho seemed as tired as he.

Soon, the charade would end, and his true appearance would be revealed. For the time being, Funaho was continuing to maintain his disguise. But, he had already instructed his tree to discontinue maintaining his life-span. The more his tree used its power, the quicker it would pass into eternal sleep. Now he was beginning to feel the effects. There was much to be done before his passing, and very little time to do it in, compared to the millennia that he could have expected as a prince of the royal family. But, he still did not begrudge himself a few minutes with his grandson, or simply enjoying the foliage of his mother's homeland. Gods willing, he would even get to see another round of great-grandchildren.

As Tenchi entered into his family home, he noticed the sound of someone snoring coming from the main room. Curious, Tenchi altered course to investigate. When he looked over the back of the nearest couch, he found Mihoshi sound asleep. On the coffee table there were three empty styrofoam containers that had once held ramen noodles. Now that he thought about it, he and his elders had left before she had returned from her routine patrol, and only now had they returned.

Tenchi began to feel somewhat guilty over having forgotten about Mihoshi so easily. Now that he thought about it, he had hardly paid any attention to her at Asahi and Gohgei's wedding, either. For a brief moment in time, his subconscious put forth the idea of inviting Mihoshi to join Aeka and Ryoko. With a vicious mental slap, he pushed the idea out of his mind.

"Jeez, I'm getting almost as bad as Dad." He mumbled to himself as he turned to go for a bath.

About half an hour later, when Tenchi returned from his bath fresh and clean, he found the rest of those residing in the house assembled at the breakfast table. Mihoshi was now awake, and was contentedly munching some fried fish, along with his father and grandfather. The klutzy blonde detective was smiling with entirely too much enthusiasm for the hour.

"Good morning, Tenchi! It's so nice to see you again!"

"Likewise, Mihoshi. I'm sorry we couldn't stay longer earlier."

"Oh, that's okay. I understand. At least I got to go to the wedding! My, but everyone's growing so quickly. I wonder who'll be next?"

Tenchi chuckled uneasily as Mihoshi sighed with unspoken longing.

"Yeah. Me, too." Tenchi sat opposite Mihoshi, with his back to the kitchen. His grandfather was quietly eating his breakfast on the left, while Nobuyuki was slurping away at his miso on the right. Taking notice that the others had already started without him, Tenchi bent his head and gave thanks for the meal.

As Tenchi dug in, he could not help noticing how quiet it was in the house without the other girls present. Although he tried his best to ignore it, it felt eerie for everyone to be so quiet. Even Mihoshi was not quite so bubbly today. Growing weary of the ill-favored silence, Tenchi set his chop-sticks down.

"How are the pickles this morning, Mihoshi?"

The normally lively blonde perked up at Tenchi's show of interest. She answered his question with a pleasant smile.

"Oh, they're very good. Not as good as Sasami's pickles, but they're still very good."

"Hmm... What about you two?" Tenchi directed his sudden inquisition at his elders. "How do you like the pickles?"

"Delicious." They both answered flatly with an accompanying nod.

The older Masakis' unenthusiastic response did not convince Tenchi. Something was definitely up. His father and grandfather had good reason to be somewhat contemplative, considering what they had discussed the night before. But Mihoshi had not been there. However, they had all been sitting at the table together before he had returned from his bath. Tenchi began to worry that they might have blabbed about his intentions towards the other girls. What he needed to do was find out what they might have yapped about. Now that he had a few years under his belt, Tenchi felt more comfortable engaging a young lady in discussion.

Pausing for a moment at the idea of Mihoshi being a "young" lady, Tenchi suddenly remembered that she was a number of years older than himself. A quick mental search reminded him that she was now in her mid-to-late twenties, and still unmarried. That narrowed it down to two possibilities: either the old men had told her about his plans, or she was down about her age. Being an adult man, Tenchi began to feel it was his duty to raise Mihoshi's spirits if she were down. He quickly thought up a fairly innocuous question that would show some interest on his part without giving any false impressions.

"So, Mihoshi."

"Yes?" Mihoshi looked at Tenchi, patiently waiting for his question with half a pickle slice still hanging out of her mouth.

"How does a person become a Galaxy Police Detective?"

Mihoshi's eyes shone and her smile grew twice as bright as Tenchi asked her about her background.

"Tenchi, are you interested in transferring to the Police Academy?"

"Uh, no, I just wanted to know more about it."

"Because I could write you a recommendation, you know."

Tenchi chuckled at that.

"Really?"

"Of course! I think you'd make a great detective."

Tenchi reached behind his head and scratched vigorously at an imaginary itch as Mihoshi's overly enthusiastic nature began to bubble over once more.

"Well, I never really thought of that."

"Sure! I have a great idea! Why don't I take you to GP headquarters to meet my grandfather? He's the Grand Marshall, you know.Then we could take a tour of headquarters, and you can see what it is that we do."

"Uh, wait a minute..." Tenchi objected as Mihoshi got the her feet, her breakfast forgotten.

"This is so exciting!" Mihoshi announced as she reached into her back pocket to find her dimensional cube. "I never thought I would actually recruit someone." With a twist of her hand, Mihoshi's civilian shorts and t-shirt were replaced with her GP utility uniform.

"Mihoshi, I wasn't actually considering becoming a police officer."

"Oh, you don't have to be nervous." She waved his objection away as if it were nothing important. "You should have seen me when I went to apply. I was shaking like a leaf!"

Moving to stand next to Tenchi, Mihoshi began manipulating her cube again.

"Well, I'll see everyone later, then. 'Bye!"

"Mihoshi, wait!"

Tenchi and Mihoshi vanished in the blink of an eye as Nobuyuki and Katsuhito watched with amused concern.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Tenchi's father rhetorically inquired.

"Yup."

"Mihoshi, wait!"

The detective ignored Tenchi's objection for the moment. She had found in the past that it was difficult for her to concentrate on more than one thing at a time. If she ever tried to split her attention, she usually ended-up doing both tasks incorrectly. After several failed attempts at multi-tasking, she had finally decided to simply ignore what ever the second task was until she was finished with the first. Unfortunately, her memory was not so great. So, she usually forgot about the second task before she finished the first. Sitting down in her comfortable pilot's seat, Mihoshi called on her computer personality interface.

"Yukinojo?"

The circular optical interface descended from the ceiling on a jointed robotic arm and pointed its visual sensors at her.

"Yes, Miss Mihoshi?"

"We're going to GP headquarters."

"No, we're not!" Tenchi interjected.

If Yukinojo were capable of true emotions, he would have groaned out loud. This was obviously another of Mihoshi's misunderstandings. Unfortunately, his programming would not allow him to ignore her instructions in favor of commands from an unauthorized pilot, even one as important as a prince of Jurai. However, there were other considerations he could voice.

"It is a serious breech of regulations to abandon your post, Miss Mihoshi."

"I'm not abandoning my post. I'm escorting a new recruit to headquarters."

Yukinojo looked at Tenchi. The young man was shaking his head and waving his hands in protest.

"All I did was ask how a person becomes a GP officer, and now she wants me to go meet her grandfather!" Tenchi hung his head. "God, how do I keep getting into these messes?"

"Miss Mihoshi, strictly speaking, Recruiting Command encourages officers to recruit prospective men and women for service. But it would be very bad form if we left this sector unattended. Perhaps it would be better if you simply notified your supervisor? Then a recruiting vessel could be sent to bring him to HQ."

"Yukinojo," Tenchi finally took a stand for what he wanted when he heard Yukinojo and Mihoshi discussing his future as if they were the ones in control. "I'm not going to become a police officer. I only asked because I though Mihoshi was a little down, and I wanted to cheer her up."

Mihoshi looked up at Tenchi with disappointment clear on her face.

"So, you've changed your mind?"

"Mihoshi, I just wanted to talk with you, that's all."

"Oh." Mihoshi thought about this for a moment. Then her face turned pink. "OH! Um... okay."

Looking around for a seat, Tenchi found he was out of luck on that account. He settled for leaning against an unlit control panel.

"I spoke with my father and grandfather last night while we were camping."

Mihoshi began to sprout a small smile, which she promptly tried to hide.

"Really?"

"Yeah, imagine that. I guess I've really had a lot on my mind, lately. But, it's still no excuse to forget about someone."

Mihoshi bravely tried to wave away Tenchi's preoccupation with the other girls.

"Oh, well, I understand. Aeka and Ryoko don't really have anything keeping them from doing what they want, or going where they want."

"That's true." Tenchi agreed.

"And I can't say I blame them for wanting to go along."

Looking at Mihoshi's face, Tenchi could see she was blushing. Unsure of what to say, an uncomfortable silence followed for several seconds. He could see she was just sitting there, twiddling her thumbs. She did not look bored, only uncomfortable and contemplative. He did not want to get into a deep discussion regarding how things had worked out the way they had. But he felt Mihoshi deserved some sort of explanation. The least he could do would be to spend some time just talking and being friends. That was something he could still do. Considering when might be a good time, Tenchi remembered he still needed to get back to the academy in time for the start of the next semester in two weeks.

"Hey, Mihoshi. I have an idea. Would you mind bringing me back to the Galaxy Academy in a few days? We can spend the time the trip takes by getting caught up."

Mihoshi raised her blue eyes and smiled.

"I'd like that."

Aeka and Ryoko materialized in the front yard of their temporary home at the Academy with several large cases of possessions, all of which belonged to the First Princess. Aeka immediately began issuing instructions to Azaka and Kamidake as to the disposition of her things. Hoping to slip away before she was noticed or remembered, Ryoko quietly flew away from Aeka. Her silent escape was brought to an abrupt halt when the collar around her neck stopped her in mid-air.

"Gack! Damn this thing!"

Aeka would have smirked, except that she had nearly choked herself a number of times in the same manner. She settled on a mild admonishment instead.

"Hmph. Serves you right for trying to sneak away without taking in the luggage."

"It's your stuff, not mine!" Ryoko was quick to point out.

"Well, since you cannot fly away while I'm having the luggage brought in, you may as well help."

"If you want to put it that way, then you have to carry some, too! I can't bring any of it in unless you go with me. So grab something and start haulin'!"

Sasami came running out the front door and nearly bowled Aeka over in her haste to welcome her sister home. She latched her arms around her sister and hugged for all she was worth.

"Aeka!"

"My goodness, Sasami! You would think I had been gone for months!"

Sasami looked up the short distance at her sister.

"I missed you!"

Aeka's facial expression softened.

"Well, I'm back now, and I intend to stay."

"Really? Do you promise?"

"Of course I promise. However, I need to speak with Ms Washu before I make anymore promises, all right?"

"Okay! I'm going to make a huge dinner with all your favorite foods!"

Aeka smiled brightly at Sasami's promise of food. She was finding her appetite had begun to run away from her the last couple of days.

"Speaking of Washu," Ryoko asked from just above and to Sasami's side where she was cracking her knuckles, "where is that little pipsqueak, anyway? I've got a bone to pick with her."

Tenchi was next to emerge.

"Welcome home." He smiled from the front door.

Aeka smiled brightly when she saw Tenchi for the first time in two weeks.

"Tenchi!" Ryoko zoomed through the air to give Tenchi a big hug. Exactly two meters away from Aeka, her neck came to a complete stop, while inertia caused her body to swing around like a dog that runs to the end of it's leash without thinking. It did not hurt. But Ryoko cried out in frustration and anger all the same, causing Tenchi to come running. He quickly arrived at her side.

"What's wrong?"

Ryoko dropped to the ground and enfolded Tenchi in her arms. She made sure to whip-up some tears in order to get as much sympathy as possible.

"That frickin' Washu put these frickin' collars on us!"

Aeka quickly joined them to voice her own sentiment.

"I quite agree with Miss Ryoko. Summon Ms Washu at once. I will not tolerate being collared for one second longer!"

Tenchi bent his head to the side so he could see Ryoko's exposed neck, where a gold and ruby encrusted neckband was tightly secured. Reaching up with both hands, he tried to remove it.

"Don't bother." Aeka recommended. "We've already tried everything. It will not come off."

Ryoko sniffled into his chest.

"I can't even teleport with it on. I can still go through walls and stuff. But I can't leave it behind."

"I'll be right back." Carefully disengaging himself from Ryoko's grasp, Tenchi turned around and strode purposefully back into the house. When he returned a couple minutes later, he had Washu slung under one arm. The ladies' eyes went wide when they saw how Tenchi was treating Washu like an unruly child. For her part, Washu looked like she was having fun. She was smiling and giggling with mirth. When Tenchi reached Aeka and Ryoko, he set Washu down on her feet in front of them.

"Well, this is a let down. I thought you were going to kidnap me and do unspeakable things to my sweet and innocent little body. Hee-hee!"

"Washu, take the collars off of Aeka and Ryoko, right now."

"Collars? Oh! You mean the Spatial-Separation-Restriction devices they're using. But I haven't had an opportunity to determine if their use has proven effective, yet."

"Washu, I really don't care. It's not right to treat people like animals. We are not your guinea pigs."

_"Well, this is different."_ Washu thought. Tenchi was actually telling her what to do, rather than meekly asking. Young men at his age were always fascinating to her. One moment, they could be as gentle as kittens, and the next, as ferocious as lions. She had a feeling that if she did not comply, she would soon hear Tenchi's roar. Washu smiled with fondness.

"Lord Tenchi, I will do as you ask. But you need to understand that it's my job as Ryoko's mother to discipline her when she misbehaves."

"Ryoko is not a child."

"She may look and feel like an adult to you. But inside, she is still an adolescent. It's not her fault. She should have a couple thousand years of mental and emotional growth under her belt by now. But, she only has a couple of years. She's getting there, little by little. But Ryoko is still selfish and immature."

"Look who's talking." Ryoko grumbled under her breath.

"If it's not her fault, then why is she being punished? And what about Aeka? You can't tell me she isn't an adult."

"Tenchi, do you know why I'm also head of the College of Philosophy, at the Academy?"

"College of Philosophy?" Even Tenchi had heard of the mysterious college that actually ran the Galaxy Academy. All of the Academy's greatest thinkers and scientific minds were assigned to that college.

"Because I know people. Sure, there are great scientific minds in all the colleges. But only the ones who can think of new ways of thinking, and then put those ideas to use are assigned to the College of Philosophy. If I didn't understand people, there's no way I could ever have created Ryoko. Her mind would have been an incomprehensible jumble of nonsense if I didn't understand people."

Tenchi slowly dropped his hands from Washu's slim shoulders as she relayed her intentions and reasons to him.

"Sometimes, discipline can be a very effective learning tool, even though it's usually somewhat distressing to the one being disciplined. Ryoko has a completely unique personality that is based on a unique physiology. She responds to things in a unique way that is all her own because her needs are different from ours. But I guarantee she has benefited from this. And I'm willing to bet Aeka did, as well. Let's go see, shall we?"

Washu turned from a dumbstruck Tenchi, who could do nothing except watch what was about to happen. She came to a halt in front of Ryoko and smiled.

"Hi! Did you have a nice trip?"

"Hey, none of that crap. Take this damn thing off."

"Oh, come on. Didn't anything exciting happen?"

"I guess."

"You guess?"

"Mmm... we met Minagi and got in a fight with the richest guy in the galaxy. Does that count?"

"Of course! Wow! Sounds like you had a blast!"

"Oh! And Aeka taught me how to play chess!"

"No kidding!"

"Yup! I kicked her butt on the first try!"

"Only after I gave you a thrashing to remember." Aeka scowled at her opponent.

"Yeah, she did almost win. But I was up to it!"

"Good for you! Now, why don't you two bend down a little lower so I can take those pesky collars off?"

Neither girl so much as blinked at Washu's request that they bow down before her. It took only a touch of her finger, and the collars fell into Washu's hands. She promptly stuffed them into her Academy uniform where vengeful hands would not touch them.

"Well, what are you two waiting for? Go say hi to Tenchi!"

With gleeful smiles, each girl grabbed one of Tenchi's arms for herself, and greeted him cheerily. Tenchi smiled, and with a chuckle, he returned the greeting.

"I think they bought it."

Washu watched with a grin as the youngsters proceeded to ignore her.

__

"Hook, line, and sinker." With a start, Washu suddenly realized that Sasami was still present. She had been watching the entire affair with silent interest. The young lady winked at her.

The two of them watched as Tenchi gave each of his girls a welcome home kiss on the cheek. Both girls grinned with pleasure at the greeting. But as Tenchi gave Aeka her kiss, she felt something in her stomach suddenly disagreeing with her.

"I'm very happy to see you again, Lord Tenchi. However, I must go in for a moment. Please excuse me."

Tenchi turned his head to follow Aeka's progress as she quickly walked into the house without so much as a backward glance. Her abrupt departure was surprising to say the least.

Aeka went straight to the restroom and shut the door. Her stomach was rolling and tossing, giving her imminent warning of violent upheaval. She lifted the lid of the toilet, hoping the device would not be needed.

"Oh, lord..."

It was.

Peering into Washu's lab, Aeka looked around first, to be sure no one else was present except for its primary occupant. Luckily, that was the case. She fully entered the dimensional space and quickly made her way to the area Washu normally used for data input. The diminutive red-head was sitting on a levitating seat in front of several holographic displays.

"Little Washu, I have a favor to ask."

"Again?" Washu acted as if she were annoyed.

"If it's too much for you I can go else where."

"Hey, I'm an important person. I've got a lot of work to do before the next semester begins."

"I am also an important person, and what I have to ask is more important than any work the Academy may require of you."

Washu looked over her shoulder at Aeka. She doubted that what Aeka wanted was that important. But it might be worthwhile to see.

"What do you want?"

"I would like a physical examination."

"What for?"

Aeka answered without missing a beat.

"It has been too long since my last physical. As First Princess, I must maintain my health. One never knows when I may be called to perform some duty for which only my particular talents will suffice. If I were unhealthy, I would not be able to complete those duties."

"Oohh. Well, if that's what you want, sure. Have a seat." As she turned back to her holographic computer terminal, Washu stuck a thumb out at a medical table that had mysteriously appeared behind Aeka.

"First, take off all your clothes."

Aeka's face colored a bit.

"Excuse me?"

"I can't give you a complete physical if you don't take off your cloths. Gotta make sure all the plumbing works!"

Aeka sighed in resignation.

"Yes. I suppose you are correct." She reluctantly began removing her kimono.

Washu punched up her old data files on Aeka's physical condition for reference.

"So, is there anything I should be looking for?"

"No. There is nothing specific."

"Uh-huh. So just an overall check-up: blood-work, reflexes, pregnancy, cardio-pulmonary, and so on."

"Yes. That's r- ah!" Aeka suddenly realized something she had not even begun to consider.

"Mmm-hmm. Been feeling a little sick in the mornings? Greater than normal appetite at other times? Unusual cravings?"

Aeka lowered her face and took a deep breath.

"Y-yes."

"Hmm. I wonder what that could mean?" Washu sarcastically wondered aloud. "When you're finished, lie back. This won't take a moment."

When Aeka finished removing her clothes, she laid back on the examination table as she had been instructed. Washu tapped away at her console, setting up the tests she would need to confirm or deny Aeka's pregnancy. She made small talk as she worked.

"So, how was your trip, really?"

"Miserable, at first." Aeka hesitated as she tried to relate how she had felt away from everyone she had come to know.

"It was better later on, then?"

"Yes, actually. The longer Ryoko and I were together, the better we seemed to get along." Aeka revealed as a metal arch extended from the end of the table and rotated over her head to a vertical position.

"So are you two going to quit fighting, or does Little Washu have to get motherly again?"

The arch began to emit a yellowish glow from the side facing Aeka as it moved slowly from head to toe.

"No, that won't be necessary. I just hope we don't do anything to make Lord Tenchi mad at us again."

"Good idea. I've been getting the feeling that he wants to take more control of his life."

"I... think I agree."

When the arch reached the end of it's travel at the foot of the examination table, Washu mentally digested the data and then turned to Aeka to present it in an understandable format.

"Are you ready for some input?"

"I suppose."

Washu checked off the changes from Aeka's last examination on her fingers as she spoke.

"Body temperature is slightly higher than normal. Hormone levels are totally screwy. You're an entire two kilos heavier than the last time I checked. I guess Ryoko was right about all those cookies. The good news is there isn't anything in your system that would make you physically or mentally ill. But that's no surprise, since you have a Royal Tree watching out for you. Also, your bust size has grown half a centimeter."

"Is that all?"

"No." Washu answered. "But, you don't really need me to tell you that, do you?"

Aeka sat up. She clambered back to her feet and retrieved her undergarments before speaking again.

"I must have absolute confirmation."

Washu sighed.

"You're pregnant."

Aeka closed her eyes.

"My father's going to kill me."

"Your father's going to kill Tenchi."

For a moment, Aeka seemed frightened of the idea of her father and Tenchi getting into that kind of disagreement. Then her facial features hardened.

"Over my dead body."

Washu wanted to begin giving Aeka medical advice on her pregnancy, but there was something she needed to confirm first.

"I assume you're keeping it?"

Aeka looked at her in shock.

"Washu! Of course I am! How could you even suggest such a thing?" She quickly began putting her clothes back on.

"Hey, sorry! Just checking! I wouldn't have done it even if you had asked." Washu quickly moved on to another subject.

"Anyway, I want you in here at least once a month for a check-up. Also, you have to follow a strict diet. If you want to have a healthy child you need to eat right. Since I know you won't follow it on your own, I'll send the requirements to Sasami so she can make sure you get the nutrition you need. Remember, you're eating for two, now."

"Yes, yes. I understand. Wait!" Aeka directed her attention to Washu again. "Could you wait a little while before telling Sasami?"

"No." Washu emphatically refused.

"Little Washu, Lord Tenchi should be informed first, and I shall be the one to tell him. Please. Give me two days. There's... something I have to do before he finds out."

"Like what?" Washu suspiciously asked.

"That is between myself and Lord Tenchi."

Washu looked carefully into Aeka's eyes.

"How important?"

"Very."

Washu contemplated Aeka's request for a few more moments before giving her an answer.

"You have two days exactly, starting now. One second more, and I get out the bull horn."

"Very well."

"Whatcha doin'?"

Aeka spun around from the kitchen counter when she heard Ryoko's voice almost right in her ear. It was the middle of the night, and, usually, there was no one about at such a late hour. Aeka had not anticipated that Ryoko would actually be out and about, instead of enjoying the warmth of Tenchi's bed.

"Ryoko! You scared the daylights out of me!"

"Yeah, yeah, been there, done that, got the tee-shirt." Ryoko pointed the horrific mess Aeka had made of the baking supplies. "What are you trying to make?"

Aeka turned back to the counter and sullenly contemplated her amazingly obvious failure at cooking.

"I'm baking a cake, if you must know."

"Looks like you're making a mess."

"Well, excuse me, Miss Iron-Chef! At least I make an attempt while you just sit around lazing off of Lord Tenchi's generosity."

"Oh, please. I cooked for Tenchi for five weeks on a deserted island. What did you ever make for him?"

Aeka turned again and stared Ryoko square in the eye.

"Something that you will never understand because Lord Tenchi knows you're not mature enough to handle it."

Ryoko's eyes went wide with confusion before returning to the previous narrow-eyed expression of skepticism.

"What in Hell are you talking about?"

"Hmph." Aeka turned back to the counter. "I am going to make this cake for Lord Tenchi, no matter what."

"Yeah, right."

Ryoko turned to leave Aeka to her abuse of all things culinary. Suddenly, the princess spun around again and began hissing and spitting at her for no reason.

"What do you know about making things?! All you've ever done is destroy! What I'm doing for Lord Tenchi is the most beautiful and... and..." Aeka's diatribe came to a clumsy halt. She hung her head in shame.

Ryoko looked at Aeka in surprise. The normally even-tempered princess did not usually fly off the handle for no reason. Now, she was just standing there, shaking like a leaf.

"Hey. Um, Aeka?" Ryoko leaned closer. Pushing aside Aeka's bangs with her hand, she saw tears on the princess's face.

"Come on, Aeka. I wasn't teasing that hard."

The shaking faded away as Aeka regained control of herself.

"I know. I'm sorry. I've... just been so emotional lately."

"You really want to bake a cake for Tenchi?"

Aeka straightened and wiped her face.

"Yes. It's extremely important."

"Then why are you doing it the hard way?"

"Well, what other way is there to bake a cake?"

"Use instant mix."

"There is such a thing?"

"Heck yeah!" Ryoko smiled, allowing just the tips of her fangs to show. She walked right to the cupboards and started flinging them open. Various boxes and small bottles clinked and clanked as she dug through, looking for the box of instant cake mix.

"Hah! Here it is!" She withdrew her arm from the cupboard, sending several other boxes falling to the ground. One broke open, sending dry elbow noodles clattering across the floor.

"Oops."

"Now who's making a mess." Aeka's look of disapproval seemed rather thin.

"Hmph. Just for that, you have to tell me why you're doing this."

Aeka looked at her for a moment, trying to decide if she should tell her.

"Because I feel like it."

"That's your 'extremely important' reason? You're full of it."

"Yes, I suppose I am."

They stared at each other for a while, sizing each other up. Ryoko pushed a finger through the cardboard cake mix box and stirred it around. Aeka thought her behavior was rather strange.

"What are you doing?"

Ryoko removed her finger and looked at the white powder on her finger for a moment before sticking it in her mouth. She sucked the mix off and then smiled.

"Vanilla."

It was the most simple and silly thing Aeka had ever heard. She started laughing.

"You are the most ridiculous person I have ever had the misfortune to meet." Aeka took a deep breath before continuing. "Very well, Miss Ryoko. If you must know, I intend to ask Lord Tenchi to..." she hesitated slightly, "to marry me."

Ryoko's eyes went very wide as the unwelcome feeling of fear suddenly assailed her.

"What?"

"Now that I've been with Lord Tenchi, it would be inappropriate for me to marry another."

Ryoko seriously thought about what Aeka was talking about. She seemed satisfied with the current arrangement. Observation told her that Aeka and Tenchi always thoroughly enjoyed their time together, just as much as she enjoyed her time with him. Now that she thought about it, Aeka's sudden interest in matrimony made a great deal of sense. Aeka and Tenchi had enjoyed enough time together over the summer that she just might have a very good reason to ask him to marry her. Ryoko looked at Aeka with a sly expression on her face.

"So. Aeka. Have you thought of any names, yet?"

Aeka's face turned red.

"That's not the whole reason! Please, don't tell Tenchi. He'll think I'm asking because of it. I want him to answer from the heart."

"Oh, bull-crap, Aeka. It's exactly why you're asking."

"I..." Aeka stared at Ryoko as she tried to come up with a rational explanation for her behavior. But, the more she thought about it, the more she came to realize that Ryoko was right.

"I... didn't mean for this to happen. Oh, God, what a hypocrite I've become. All this time I've been lecturing you on how to behave properly, and now look at me. I'm skulking about in the middle of the night like some floozy."

"You don't know the first thing about being a floozy."

Aeka gave Ryoko a nasty look.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Bah!" With a snort of disgust, Ryoko turned away. She carelessly tossed the box of instant cake mix onto the flour covered counter top, along with the other baking implements. Her gaze began floating across the objects she could see out the small window above the kitchen sink. There were trees, of course, and the sky. The quarter moon was just visible in one upper corner. It's light illuminated thin wisps of clouds in the night sky. It suddenly occurred to her that Aeka was finally treating her like an equal, who just so happened to be in love with the same man she was in love with. She was surprised when Aeka joined her in front of the window.

"Ryoko, I must have Tenchi for my husband. If... you cannot agree, then I will have no choice but to fight you for him."

Ryoko scowled her displeasure, hoping the expression would hide what she was truly feeling.

"That's not very fair."

"As I have so recently begun to understand, life is seldom fair. I won't give up, now, or ever, and I refuse to return to Jurai in shame."

Ryoko snorted when she realized that Aeka had misunderstood.

"That's not what I meant. I mean, how am I supposed to fight you when you're pregnant with Tenchi's baby?"

The sound of a young girl's gasp immediately drew Aeka and Ryoko's attention to the doorway, where Sasami was standing with her eyes wide with shock.

"Aeka? Is that... true?"

"Sasami! What are you doing awake at this hour?"

"I... heard voices."

Looking very guilty, Aeka turned to face out the window again. Sensing that Aeka was not going to answer, Ryoko decided to answer Sasami's question for the First Princess. She turned around and casually boosted herself up on the counter-top.

"Yup. The princess is packin'."

Aeka suddenly turned around to face her sister.

"Sasami, you must swear to me you will not follow my foolish example. You must wait until you are married to have children."

As Sasami blushed at the thought of someday having children of her own, Ryoko gave Aeka a questioning look.

"What for?"

Aeka looked back at her like she was crazy.

"What do you mean, what for? It is... inappropriate."

"So what you're saying is that having sex with Tenchi is inappropriate?"

"Discussing this topic in front of my sister is inappropriate."

"Oh, for..." Ryoko laid herself out on the counter top as she groaned her disagreement. "Maybe we ought to ask Sasami if she thinks it's inappropriate." Looking in Sasami's direction, Ryoko asked exactly that.

"Hey, Sasami, do you think talking about sex is inappropriate?"

"Ryoko!" Aeka hissed at her.

Although Sasami's face was growing very red, she stood her ground.

"It's not like I don't know where babies come from. It's just... no one's ever really talked to me about it."

Ryoko's eyes went wide.

"Never?"

Sasami shook her head with curious enthusiasm.

"Well, then. Why don't you come over here and talk with the big girls?"

Sasami walked right over to Ryoko's side and stood between the older girls.

"Oo, lookit that! You're right up to Aeka's shoulder, now, eh?"

Sasami beamed with pride.

"Yes, I am."

"So you are. Mm." Ryoko nodded with an incredibly serious expression on her face, causing Sasami to giggle at the melodramatic act. The ex-pirate's mouth widened into a sly grin. Eyeing Sasami's figure, she could see that the princess was beginning to acquire the shape of a young lady.

"Then... you must be growing in other areas, hmm?"

The girl's face turned beet-red as Aeka sent Ryoko another nasty look.

"Enough, Ryoko. That truly is inappropriate."

Ryoko interpreted Sasami's nod as an affirmative answer to the question she had asked.

"Ha! I knew it! Come on, Aeka. If we girls don't teach her about sex, who do you think will? Probably some jock a couple of years older than her with more hormones than brains, that's who."

After a couple seconds of silence, Aeka thinly chuckled. It was not a very strong laugh. But it was enough to let the others know she had found something funny.

"It just occurred to me that I've been trying to get Mother to recognize me as an adult for... well, for as long as I can remember."

Ryoko closed her eyes and smiled. Sasami began giggling again.

"Mom is pretty bad about that, isn't she?"

"Why, it was only last month that she finally admitted to even having lustful thoughts about Father. I was absolutely beside myself with shock."

"Ah!" Ryoko exclaimed with sudden understanding. "In the limo!"

Aeka nodded.

"Yes. I suppose even little sisters have to grow up, some day. But I still believe one should wait until after the wedding."

Ryoko rolled over onto her back.

"No way. If it feels good, do it. And if you want my opinion, it feels damn good."

"Just because something feels good, does not mean it's good for you. There are literally hundreds of sexually transmitted diseases out there. Some of which can kill a person. Not to mention the fact that such free-willed behavior often leads to teenaged pregnancy and single mothers."

"You're one to preach. But isn't it better to know what you're getting before you get married?"

"The risks far outweigh the gains."

"What if you marry somebody and find out that he's lousy in bed, and you get so sick of lousy sex, that you start to hate him?"

"That's a bit of a stretch."

"Uhn-uh. Happens all the time. OR, what if, later, you meet someone you just can't stay away from? That happens all the time, too."

"If you truly love your husband, you will stay true to him, no matter what."

"No, now you're talking about love. Stay on the subject."

"Excuse me?"

"If you get married without having sex beforehand, chances are you'll find someone later on that you would rather be with. What's worse, even if you do love him, you won't know how to show it right when it counts! If you sleep around, not only do you get better at sex, but you get to pick and choose who you want."

Aeka gave Ryoko a very skeptical look concerning her twisted sense of logic.

"So then. I suppose you have arrived in Lord Tenchi's bed through the process of elimination?"

Ryoko looked upwards through her bangs at Aeka for a couple of seconds. She had become so engrossed in actually having a stimulating conversation, that she had begun to tread into some dangerous waters. Instead of deflecting Aeka's attention away from marrying Tenchi, she had sent it right towards her past sex life, which was something Ryoko really did not want to discuss.

"It wasn't like that. I... never got anything out of sex. It wasn't like I couldn't do it. All the plumbing worked right, but I never got excited. It was like I was totally missing the point."

"Wait a moment. How can the so-called plumbing work right if you weren't excited?"

"Hell if I know. I asked Kagato about it once, and he said it was unnecessary for an efficient tool."

Aeka actually seemed taken aback.

"That's so cruel."

"It wasn't until Yosho locked me in that cave that I was free of that bastard's control. For seven hundred years I was alone, until I met Tenchi. That's when I started having real feelings."

Ryoko smiled mischievously.

"But it wasn't until he let me out that I had a body again. And once I had my body back, I wanted to do everything at once, especially sex. All I had to do was look at Tenchi and..." Thinking of the way Tenchi made her feel sent shivers down Ryoko's spine. "Whoo... it was all I could do just to keep from jumping on him."

"As I recall, you have done that any number of times."

"Sure. But those times I was just flirting. There were times when I really wanted him, and I knew that if I forced him, he would hate me. So, I'd go someplace where I could be alone for a while."

"I don't think you need to go into further details on that subject."

"Yeah, like you never play with yourself."

Aeka's face turned bright red as Ryoko turned over, once more, this time onto her stomach.

"Well, that is not a subject you should talk about with other people!"

"Well, we're talking now, aren't we?"

That gave Aeka reason to pause. Now that she thought about it, she realized that she was actually having an intelligent, if somewhat embarrassing conversation with her arch-nemesis. That could only mean one thing. She was being distracted.

"Ah, I see. You are trying to distract me from my original intentions, aren't you? Well, forget it. I'm still waiting for your answer."

Ryoko groaned. For once, she had been enjoying an honest-to-goodness real-live conversation with her friends. She liked talking with people, as long as they were talking about something she was interested in. But it seemed that that short time was now over. Ryoko set her arms across one another and then set her chin on top of them. She stared at the stainless sink with abject annoyance.

"Cut it out, Aeka. I can't fight you, now."

"Then you agree."

Ryoko buried her face behind her arms.

"I can't."

"Ryoko, you must choose. If you cannot, then I will simply march myself right up to Lord Tenchi's room and ask him without your consent."

A flare of anger suddenly ignited within Ryoko's belly, causing her to glance over the top of her folded forearms at Aeka.

"Don't you dare."

Now that the conversation was finally into an area that Sasami felt a little more comfortable with, she began trying to partake of it. 

"Aeka, are you going to ask Tenchi to marry you?"

Ryoko and Aeka had very different answers to Sasami's question.

"Yes, I am."

"No, she's not."

Aeka glared at Ryoko, even though the woman was hiding her face in her arms. Fortunately, they had Sasami there to keep the peace.

"Ryoko, if Aeka doesn't marry Tenchi, and my father finds out he got Aeka pregnant, he'll have Tenchi executed."

Ryoko's gave Sasami her scariest look as she peeked over the top of her biceps.

"I'll kill him, first."

Sasami cringed when she saw the way her friend was looking at her. But she stuck to her guns, trying to convince Ryoko to allow this.

"Daddy's a really strong warrior, you know."

"I beat him before, and I can beat him again."

Now there was a story neither Aeka nor Sasami had ever heard.

"You have?"

"Damn right. It was about fifty years before Kagato sent me after Tsunami. He thought he could take on me, Ryo-o-ki, and the Souja, all at the same time."

"Oo. That would be tough, even for Kirito."

Aeka could not disagree.

"Indeed."

"Well, don't worry. Tsunami showed up and bailed him out."

"So you didn't beat him." Aeka pointed out, pleased she had found the truth behind one of Ryoko's lies.

"Hey. The great lady herself had to personally save his bacon by teleporting the entire ship someplace else."

"Oh! I've heard this story before! This is how father met Lady Funaho."

"It is?"

"Yes. Tsunami rescued father, and magically teleported him and Kirito to Earth, where he was found by Funaho. She brought him to her home and tended his wounds until he was able to travel. While he was there, they fell in love. Her family thought father was a powerful warrior spirit. So they allowed him to take her home with him as his wife."

"Whoa. That's scary."

Aeka looked at Ryoko as if she had suddenly grown another head.

"How is that?"

"I made my own destiny without even trying."

"Uhh..."

"Think about it. If I hadn't fought Azusa, he would never have ended up on Earth, met Funaho, and had kids. His son, Yosho defeated me and locked me in that cave, where, seven hundred years later, I met his grandson, Tenchi."

"I see. So..." Aeka face contorted for a moment as she realized Ryoko has once more led her astray. "You did it again! Miss Ryoko, I will not be distracted any further. Choose now, or forever hold your peace!"

Ryoko buried her face out of sight.

"Forget it, Aeka. You can't have Tenchi, and I'm not gonna fight you for him."

Seeing that her sister and friend were at an impasse, Sasami tried to offer an alternative.

"Maybe you should just let Tenchi decide. Don't you think he'll do the right thing?"

Ryoko spoke from behind her folded arms, muffling the sound of her voice.

"I know he'll do the right thing. That's why I can't let him choose."

"But, it's his baby, too!"

Ryoko clenched her fists as Sasami's impassioned plea almost made her choke. Sasami was right on the money. The right thing to do was for him to marry Aeka and be a father and husband for his child and woman. Ryoko tried to be impassive to Sasami's pleadings. But the young lady's voice held considerable sway with the feelings in her heart. 

"Tenchi loves both of you. He won't make either of you leave, no matter what he decides. Don't you want to watch his baby grow up?"

Ryoko turned her head so she could see Sasami as she spoke to her, unintentionally allowing Sasami to see the small tears that were gathering in the corners of her eyes.

"The only way you'll see that is if you say yes. Besides, I'm really looking forward to being an auntie."

Ryoko shut her eyes tight as her heart pounded in fear for what she would lose.

"Stop it..."

"I'm not saying this to be mean. But, I know you didn't have a mom or dad until you met Washu. Do you want this baby to be missing its daddy?"

**"SHUT UP!"**

Aeka cautiously took a small step back. Despite her challenge, she really did not wish to fight Ryoko. She was a difficult enough an opponent with one, or even no gems. How much more difficult would she be now, with all the power she had absorbed?

Ryoko tried desperately to keep herself from lashing out at the princesses. Her instincts were telling her to fight for what was most important to her. However, she knew Sasami was only showing her concern for her sister's child. That she could deal with. But she could not accept letting go of Tenchi. Especially not after everything she had gone through to win his love.

Despite popular belief, she did possess a sense of ethics. Even she would not risk harming Aeka's child by fighting her. Since she could not fight, and Aeka was obviously hell-bent on marrying Tenchi because of it, that did not leave many options. As tears dripped off the end of her nose, Ryoko told Aeka what she thought of her for trying to take Tenchi.

"I thought we were friends."

Thinking that Ryoko was speaking to her, Sasami started to cry.

"I..."

As she was unable to formulate any further coherent sentences due to Ryoko's blunt statement of disappointment, Sasami turned and ran out the kitchen door, sobbing. Aeka turned an angry glare on Ryoko.

"How dare you say something so horrible to my sister? In case you haven't noticed, she cares about you a great deal!"

"I was talking to you!"

Aeka's eyes went wide with surprise.

"What?"

With a growl, Ryoko finally showed her face to Aeka, revealing to her the puffiness in her eyes that showed how much she was upset by this whole affair.

"Fine. Let me make it clear to you, Aeka. **I HATE YOUR STINKIN' GUTS!!**"

It was very surprising to Aeka how much that hurt. But before she could even try to apologize or make amends, Ryoko disappeared, leaving her alone in the kitchen with her failed attempt at cooking. It had never even occurred to her that Ryoko considered her a friend. Although Aeka could admit it was something of a relief to just cut-loose once in a while, she had never consciously considered Ryoko more than an acquaintance. Now, her sister had run off and someone who considered her a friend had run off, leaving her with Tenchi. In addition, Mihoshi had been left back on Earth, alone with Tenchi's father and grandfather. Suddenly, the prize did not seem as worthwhile as before. Was having Tenchi worth hurting so many people?

As Aeka considered this, it occurred to her that the situation was not as grim as Ryoko was making it out to be. She was perfectly fine with the idea of a polygamous relationship. Even Tenchi appeared to have accepted the idea in practice, if not in ideal. It did not make any sense for Ryoko to be so frightened of losing Tenchi, unless she felt their relationship was still shaky. Perhaps Tenchi was still angry with her over the incident at the space-port two weeks ago. Aeka shook her head. He had greeted them both with equal enthusiasm, showing neither preference nor dissatisfaction for either. The problem was not with Tenchi.

Perhaps Ryoko thought she wanted to take him from her. Aeka thumped her fist on the countertop. That made no sense, either. Ryoko knew it was a shared relationship. Tenchi had explained it right in front of them both.

Reluctantly, Aeka turned her attention to herself. Perhaps she had simply missed something important, and thinking about the situation would bring it to light. The big question for her was "What am I doing?" The answer was easily identified. She was trying to... With a start, Aeka realized she was not really sure what she was trying to do. She wanted to be with Tenchi, for sure. Despite Tenchi's ongoing relationship with Ryoko, he had still treated her with respect and kindness. Nothing had changed between them, except that she had watched him and Ryoko grow closer and closer over the next year. She had tried to distract herself from it with her studies, and redecorating the house. But all that had been a waste of time. She had never been terribly fond of educational pursuits, and fixing-up the house like an expectant mother had only made her feel as if someone were pouring salt in her wounds.

That was exactly what it felt like every time she caught them showing affection to each other. It felt like being stabbed with a knife. At first, it had only hurt. But later, the pain had grown to include jealousy. But still she had kept silent, not wanting Tenchi to know how much she was hurting inside. Then the wedding had come. She had totally lost control right in the middle of the ceremony, making a complete fool of herself. Then she had made even more of a fool of herself by leaving the reception with Seiryu.

Again, Aeka asked herself what she was doing. This time, the answer was more forthcoming. She was following her own feelings without regard to how that may effect others. Her guess was that Ryoko was afraid she would take Tenchi from her. Aeka wonder if she would do so if she were presented with the opportunity. Traditionally, she would have answered in the affirmative. However, she stopped short of answering when a sense of guilt began to settle over her. Ryoko had said she had thought of Aeka as a friend, and a real friend does not take their friend's love from them. But that was not necessary. Aeka knew it was within herself to share Tenchi with Ryoko if that was the only way for her to be with him. Her only other option was to go into exile, as her father's mother, Amame, had done after getting involved with her grandfather, Kazuki. Either way, she would have to decide soon. It would be impossible to keep it a secret from Tenchi, especially with Washu standing-by with her so-called bull-horn. Aeka shook her head as frustration began to set in. The situation could be dealt with, if only Ryoko were willing to talk with her about it. But, if she knew that woman, she was probably already planning to run-off with Tenchi tied to her head. Realizing how serious a predicament that would be, Aeka began quickly making her way upstairs, grumbling to herself.

"Why must that woman behave so irrationally?"

As she reached Tenchi's room, she slid the door open without hesitation. Inside, the two lovers were facing each other in the middle of the room. Tenchi was wearing a pair of boxers and a look of great concern. When she heard Aeka enter, Ryoko stiffened.

"Go away." She warned.

Confused, Tenchi looked back and forth between them.

"Ryoko, what is going on? Why are you so upset?"

With a sense of purpose she had not realized she possessed, Aeka took a step forward.

"I'm afraid Ryoko and I are having a bit of a disagreement."

"Disagreement my ass. Tenchi, make her go away. Please?"

"Why can't the two of you be friends?"

Ryoko finally lost her cool.

"God damn it, I tried! But Aeka's such a selfish little bitch that she wants you all to herself!"

"That's not true!"

Ryoko spun around and yelled across the room at the top of her lungs.

"Then what was all that crap you just told me!?"

"It's not crap! I love Lord Tenchi with all my heart!"

"Well, so do I!"

Tenchi bravely tried to put an end to the horrible verbal battle going on in front of him.

"That's enough."

"No, it's not!" Ryoko disagreed. "I'd rather die than be alone, again."

"And I would rather die than forsake any one of you."

Both Ryoko and Aeka paused in their argument when they heard those fateful words Tenchi had spoken to Kagato years ago.

"Aeka, Ryoko, I'm truly sorry for what I've put you through. As often as I apologize, I keep causing you pain."

The girls remained silent to hear what Tenchi wanted to hear.

"I know why you two are arguing."

Ryoko suddenly turned around again and flung herself into Tenchi's chest.

"Please don't leave me."

Tenchi put his arms around Ryoko in a warm embrace.

"Of course I'm not leaving you, Ryoko. I love you." Looking down at Aeka, he carefully pushed Ryoko back a little so he could look into her eyes. "Ryoko, look at me."

The distraught young woman obeyed, lifting her tear-filled eyes to Tenchi's.

"Ryoko, I will never leave you, no matter what. I will always be here for you, and I will always love you."

Ryoko spared a moment more to maintain eye contact with Tenchi before she leaned forward to kiss him. Tenchi allowed it, even though Aeka was watching. Out of consideration for her feelings, he kept it short.

Watching the couple of Tenchi and Ryoko, Aeka began to realize that there was still something that Ryoko possessed of Tenchi that she did not. He obviously loved her immensely. Although Aeka had shared herself with Tenchi, there were still things he only did for, or with, Ryoko. There was still the short, meaningful looks and caresses they shared. Although he claimed to love Aeka, what she was seeing now proved that his love for Ryoko was greater. Reluctantly, she had to admit that asking Tenchi to marry her would probably do more harm than good, which was something Tenchi would not approve of. Patiently, Aeka waited until he and Ryoko were done before speaking again.

"Ryoko, I apologize for allowing my... selfish jealousy to come between you and Lord Tenchi. You must promise me you will always love him, and that when he needs you, you will be there for him."

The way that Tenchi was holding her made it difficult for Ryoko to act as if she were all right with everything. But at least she was no longer as upset as she had been.

"I promise."

"Aeka..."

"Lord Tenchi, part of loving someone is knowing when one is doing the right thing. I... should not have followed you here." Aeka's voice cracked, denying her the end of what she had hoped would be an honorable farewell.

"Aeka, I meant what I said about never forsaking any one of you. If you'll have a seat for a moment, I'm pretty sure I've figured out a way so that we can all have what we want."

With her feelings all a-jumble, Aeka followed Tenchi's suggestion.

"Very well."

Tenchi carefully pried Ryoko from his chest to suggest the same to her.

"Ryoko, would you mind sitting next to Aeka? I have something for you."

The lure of a gift from Tenchi was unnecessary. Ryoko would have sat there without the promise of a reward. But it did make things a little more tolerable.

"I guess. If you really want me to."

Reluctantly, she walked the short distance to Tenchi's bed and then sat down as Tenchi went to his dresser. She sat still for a moment, then glanced in Aeka's direction.

"You sounded like you changed your mind."

"You're right. I am a selfish bitch."

"Well, you're not that selfish."

Aeka pursed her lips.

"Gee, thanks."

At the other end of the room, Tenchi pulled out one of the drawers as far as it would go, then reached all the way to the back. Whatever it was that he removed, Aeka could not tell. Tenchi held it within his closed palms as he came back to stand before her. Ryoko also stared at his closed hands, wondering what he held concealed in his palms as he began his own speech.

"I've been thinking about some things, about us. A lot has happened in the last couple of years. I never imagined a guy like me would have the adventures we've had together. Not only that, but there's two wonderful women that love me."

Tenchi took a moment to look both Ryoko and Aeka in the eye, in turn. His gaze lingered on the latter.

"It took me a very long time to realize that if I wanted to be with one of you, I would have to accept both of you. I kind of figured something like this was going to happen after we were together. But, I wasn't sure how to deal with it until recently. My first and worst mistake was thinking I actually had to choose between you. Somehow, I knew that if I could just wait long enough, the whole thing would resolve itself. For once, I was right, just not in the way I thought. I don't want to hurt either of you ever again. So, um..."

Tenchi took a deep breath to calm himself. He opened his mouth to ask the question he wanted, but his mouth no longer seemed to work properly. The big breath he had taken whooshed out of his lungs.

"Boy, this is hard. Um... here. You'll get the idea."

Tenchi revealed a pair of velvet boxes within his hands.

"There's one for each of you. They're both the same, so you don't have to worry about who gets the better one."

The girls looked at the boxes, then at each other, and then at Tenchi, mimicking each others movements perfectly. Aeka was the first to reach out and receive her gift from Tenchi. Raising the soft lid revealed a diamond ring. Her eyes began to tear with joy as she realized what the purpose of this little exercise was. It took only a moment to remove the ring from its box and slide it on her left ring finger.

"Lord Tenchi," Aeka asked as she wiped the tears from her face, "I most humbly and... and... oh, thank you!" She leapt up and embraced Tenchi tightly. "But, let me make sure I understand. You wish to have both Ryoko and I as your wives?"

"Yes." Tenchi answered.

"But, how is this possible? I though it was forbidden in your society."

Tenchi just shook his head.

"Don't worry about that right now. We'll deal with it when the time comes. However..." He then looked at Ryoko, who was staring at the object in his free hand with both shock and wonder. "It's conditional. I won't go through with it if either of you doesn't want to."

Realizing what Tenchi meant, Aeka also looked at Ryoko to see if she agreed.

"Don't look at me like that!" Ryoko insisted as she stared at the ring. "What... I mean, I don't, what? I've never... a bride? Me?"

"Ryoko," Tenchi carefully explained what was going on, "What I'm saying is I want to spend the rest of my life with you. With both of you." He appended. "Remember what you said in the forest on Ryuten, about us being together forever? I want that, too."

After a moment of gazing into Ryoko's eyes, he stepped away from Aeka and opened the box so Ryoko could see it. With a shaking hand, she reached out and took the box from him. For the longest time she just stared at it, gaping in wonder.

"Really?"

"Yes." Tenchi stated simply.

Ryoko started having the same problem as Aeka. She could not stop the tears that rolled down her cheeks. At the moment she did not care that she would have to share him with Aeka. She was just too glad she was not going to lose him completely.

Tentatively, Ryoko reached into the box and carefully touched the gemstone, half-expecting it would disappear. When she plucked the ring from its place, her fingers told her it was solid and real. She held the box out to Aeka.

"Hold this for a minute."

"Huh?" Aeka looked at the box in confusion.

"Just do it." Ryoko insisted.

"All right. There's no need to yell."

Ryoko held out the ring in her right hand and presented her left hand to Tenchi. He looked at them for a moment before getting the idea. Taking the ring in his left hand, he held Ryoko's left hand in his right, and slid the ring over her left ring finger. He was not at all surprised when Ryoko jumped up, engulfing him in a huge embrace as soon as the ring was in place.

"I love you so much!" She whispered in his ear.

For a moment, Aeka felt somewhat out of place. She cleared her throat, indicating she wished to speak.

"Miss Ryoko, from now on, you will have to begin learning how to be a proper wife for Lord Tenchi. He certainly deserves no less."

"I'll learn how to be a proper wife when you do."

"Excuse me?"

Ryoko stayed close to Tenchi for a few more seconds before letting go.

"Isn't there something you want to tell Tenchi?"

Aeka gazed at Ryoko for a moment before remembering what Ryoko was referring to.

"I suppose you're right." At first, Aeka felt a little reluctant to tell Tenchi she was carrying his child. She had intentionally neglected to tell him so that he would not be swayed by it. But, he had a right to know. She took a deep breath before beginning.

"Tenchi, there's something you should know."

Tenchi paid close attention to what Aeka was saying.

"It is not normal course of action for a woman of the Royal Family to be with her future husband before the wedding. I waited to tell you of this because I wished to be married to you because of our feelings for each other, not out of a sense of duty. I realize that is rather selfish of me. But, some things are more important than duty."

"'Bout time you figured that out." Ryoko told her.

"Hush. This is important."

"That was a compliment, bone-head."

"Aeka," Tenchi interrupted, "What are you saying?"

"I'm... saying... um..."

"She's pregnant." Ryoko revealed for her.

"Ryoko! How could you? I wanted to --"

Aeka's sentence came to a lurching halt when Tenchi suddenly turned to slush. He slipped right out of Ryoko's arms and puddled at her feet. The girls stared at him in shock as small bubbles began to pop and sputter on the surface of his watery visage.

"Hey, Aeka? I forget. Is that good or bad?"

"I... don't know. I've never seen a man do that before."

END.

AFTERWORD: This chapter was so serious I just had to have some fun at the end. One of the things I wanted to do was to emphasize the hidden aspects of Aeka and Ryoko's relationship. I've always felt that Ryoko likes Aeka because the princess makes her laugh.


	22. Rock 'n Roll Dreams

INVASION, Volume 3, Part 6: Rock n' Roll Dreams 

DISCLAIMER: Tenchi Muyou! is copyright AIC/Pioneer, LDC. I claim no rights to it. However, the events depicted in this story are entirely of my own imagination. Please do not copy or alter it in any way. Feel free to distribute this story as widely as desired.

FOREWORD: This chapter takes place shortly after the beginning of the new academic year. I would like to point out that in Japan, the school year ends and starts around spring vacation, rather than summer. This vacation is informally referred to as Golden Week. However, spring break is still shorter than summer vacation.

AUTHOR: Dreamr  
EMAIL: TrueDreamr@Hotmail.com  
LAST REVISION: 07 November 2003

* * *

BEGIN.

"Tenchi got mail!" Sasami excitedly waved a letter in the air as she entered the sitting room fresh in from school.

"I did?" Tenchi rose from the couch to retrieve his missive from the girl. When he reached for it, she pulled it away just before his fingers closed on the envelope. Inwardly, Tenchi groaned. Sasami could not hold it high or far enough away that he could not reach it. But she was getting there.

"Just because we're friends, it's no excuse for bad manners. Say please." Sasami insisted.

"Uh, right." Tenchi put his palms together in front of his chest. "May I please have my letter, Sasami?"

Sasami smiled brightly and handed Tenchi his letter.

"It's from brother Yosho." She kindly informed him as he reached out and took it.

"From Grandpa?" Tenchi headed back to the couch so he could sit while reading. "Huh. I wonder what's up?"

He sat back down between Aeka and Ryoko. They both tried to put their arm around his shoulders at the same time and ended up pushing and tugging at each other for the space Tenchi's shoulders provided. He ignored their silent squabble and tore open his letter.

"Yup. It's from Grandpa, all right." He read a little further before making any more comments. "He says everyone's doing fine. Little Taro's running around and getting into everything. Ha! Here's one for you, Ryoko. Grandpa lost track of him for a few minutes the other day, then found him trying his best to tear down the gate to your cave."

Ryoko grinned.

"You Masaki guys just can't resist me."

Aeka took advantage of Ryoko's distraction to gain victory for Tenchi's shoulders.

"Your cousin is quite the troublemaker, isn't he?" Despite her words, Aeka squeezed Tenchi's shoulder tightly.

Tenchi looked at her, knowing exactly what was running through her mind. They shared a brief moment while they stared into each other's eyes.

"Okay, okay." Ryoko interrupted their silent communication. "Enough with the gaga looks. What else does he say?"

"Hmph." Aeka stuck her nose up in the air at Ryoko's comment. "You should talk, Ryoko."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Anyway," Tenchi interrupted the argument before it got out of hand, "Dad and Mihoshi are doing fine. They're... huh?" Tenchi read the paragraph over again. "I don't believe it."

"What?" The women asked in unison. Tenchi took a moment to read the rest of the letter before summarizing for the others. Ryoko starting getting impatient.

"Come on, Tenchi. What are they, sleeping together?"

"Ryoko!" Aeka admonished her. "Tenchi's father may be somewhat... deprived... but he would never fall to such depths. I'm certain he has been very respectful of Miss Mihoshi."

"Thank you, Aeka. But, I guess they've both been feeling lonely. Now that I think about it, it is just the two of them there. Grandpa says he's thinking of playing match-maker."

"Really?" The ladies chimed again.

"Really."

There was a long moment of quiet while everyone contemplated the combination of Nobuyuki and Mihoshi.

"Tenchi," Aeka asked, "How do you feel about this?"

"It's all right. Dad's been alone for a long time. I know he stayed single more for my benefit than anything else. That's not to say he didn't respect mom. It's just... well, he's a decent guy at heart. I hope it works out for them."

When the phone began to ring, Sasami leapt to answer the call.

"I'll get it!"

Aeka called after her sister regarding the person making the call.

"If it's another of those telemarketers, make certain they understand never to call this number again!"

"I'll really let them have it, this time!"

Sasami picked up the phone and answered in her cheeriest voice while the others continued to peruse the contents of the letter from home.

"Hello! Masaki residence."

A cultured young man's voice responded to her greeting.

"Ah, yes. Could I speak with Sasami please?"

"This is her. But, if you're trying to sell me something, I'll scream into the phone."

"Uh, no. Why would I do a thing like that?"

"Huh?" Sasami began to feel confused. The voice on the phone sounded like a boy around her age, and very well mannered. But she did not know of anyone like that in her local area. Still, the voice sounded awfully familiar.

"Do I know you?"

"Um, yes, actually. This is Shuzan Amaki. We met at Lady Asahi and Lord Gohgei's wedding reception?"

Sasami immediately blushed. She most certainly did remember the wonderful time she had had dancing with him. However, she could not for the life of her remember ever giving him her phone number.

"How did you get this number?"

"Well, my brother has received a teaching position at the academy, and he invited me to come along. Uncle said it was all right. So, I guess I'll be in the neighborhood."

"Oh. That's nice. But, that doesn't really answer my question."

"Um... I asked Seiryu to look it up for me."

A small grin began to tug at the corners of Sasami's mouth.

"Why?"

"I thought... maybe... since I'll be new to the area, you could... maybe... show me around?"

Sasami really began to blush, now.

"Shuzan, are you asking me for a date?"

"No! I mean... well, it's just that I don't know anyone there, and I, um... You know how it is when you go someplace where you don't know anybody. It's really boring. If you don't want to..."

"No! I mean, yes. I mean, oh... um..." Sasami suddenly found herself at a loss for words. "I'd... be happy to."

"Truly?"

"Sure. I know!" she exclaimed with a smile. "Why don't you and Seiryu come over for dinner?"

Aeka's voice suddenly echoed across the house.

"Absolutely not! If that man sets so much as a toe in this house, I'll have him executed! In fact, Azaka! Kamidake!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Have signs posted around the house: Trespassers will be executed!"

"Immediately, Highness!"

Sasami grimaced at Aeka's pronouncement.

"Um... maybe not."

"If you don't mind my asking, what happened after the reception? I thought your sister and my brother were getting along rather well?"

Sasami began twirling the receiver cord around her left index finger.

"I don't know. I tried really hard to get her to tell me, but she won't say."

A pair of golden eyes topped by long cyan hair peered around the corner to investigate the strange occurrence of Sasami talking on the phone with someone who had asked her for a date. She could only assume it was a boy. Ryoko started to snicker as she observed Sasami gossiping and yacking. The girl seemed totally oblivious to the fact that she was being watched.

"I know! There's this nice place we could go to and talk about it while we eat."

"That sounds good."

"We'll have to take a shuttle to get there, but that's fine. You'll get to take a look around while we fly."

"That's a great idea!"

"Mm-hm. And you'll get to see the hole Washu made in the planet's surface fifteen thousand years ago."

"Fifteen... thousand?"

Sasami could not help giggling when she heard Shuzan's reaction. She had reacted the same way when she had learned about the thirty-mile-deep shaft that Washu had inadvertently created so many years ago.

"That's what they say. I asked Washu about it the other day. She seemed surprised that anybody even remembered it was her that did it."

"How could anyone ever forget something like that?"

"Hey, Sasami." Ryoko called to her younger friend. "Who ya talkin' to?"

Sasami glanced in Ryoko's direction before placing her hand over the mouthpiece of the receiver.

"A friend."

Ryoko smiled.

"Boy-friend, you mean."

Sasami's face turned beet-red.

"He is not!"

Ryoko turned around with a laugh.

"Hey, everybody! Sasami's got a boyfriend!"

Everyone in the room went silent.

"Shuzan, I'll call right back." Sasami hung up the phone without waiting for a response. She then crossed her arms over her chest and gave Ryoko her best Gramma Seto impression, icy glare and all.

"He's not my boyfriend."

Ryoko looked over her shoulder with a playful glint in her eye.

"You're going to go out with him, right?"

Sasami's icy stare quickly melted as she began to fiddle with her own fingers.

"I'm... just going to show him around. It's not like it's a date, or anything."

"Sure it is. If you go out alone with a boy, it's a date."

"It is not a date, and he is not my boyfriend!"

Ryoko suddenly reappeared behind Sasami, where she set her hands on the girl's shoulders.

"It's okay. You don't have to be embarrassed. It's perfectly normal to start liking guys at your age."

Ryoko changed tactics when she saw Sasami's face turn red. She had been eagerly anticipating the day Sasami would be big enough to have some fun with. Maybe today was the day. With a sense of excitement she had not felt in some time, Ryoko reached around Sasami's head and engaged her in a Sleeper-hold, making sure not to squeeze too tight. She only wanted to have some fun, not rip her friend's head off. From the sitting room, Aeka tried to caution Ryoko about trying something like that with Sasami.

"Ryoko, I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Her warning went unheeded.

"Come on! Admit it! He's your boyfriend!"

As much as Sasami liked Ryoko, she had never felt the rapier-point of the woman's well honed teasing skills. The force of the verbal assault was too much for the ordinarily well tempered Sasami. She reached up and grasped Ryoko's right arm with both hands. Then, thrusting her hips back while bending forward, she threw Ryoko over her head. The woman's body described a graceful arc through the air, which terminated at the horizontal surface of the floor. The wooden boards that comprised the walking surface cracked and splintered with the force of the impact. Ryoko stared up at her friend in surprise.

"Wow."

When Sasami saw what she had done, she began to cry.

"I'm sorry!" She quickly turned around and ran up the stairs.

Ryoko sat up as Tenchi and Aeka joined her.

"Told you, didn't I?"

"You didn't tell me your little sister had moves."

Aeka smirked down at Ryoko.

"Although Sasami was only eight when we left Jurai in search of our brother, she had already attained the basic level of proficiency in hand-to-hand combat. I'm not certain, but I believe her level of skill would roughly equate to a level just below a black belt on Lord Tenchi's home-planet."

Impressed, Tenchi could not help wondering where that placed Aeka.

"Aeka, you trained, too, right? What does that make you?"

Pleased to tell Tenchi of her accomplishment, Aeka stood up a bit straighter as she answered.

"Once I made it known that I was going to search for my brother, Mother and Father absolutely insisted that I train rigorously for the coming journey. Before I set out, Mother awarded me an honorary title of Master at Arms in recognition of my achievement."

Having spent enough time on the floor, Ryoko finally got to her feet and brushed off the dust.

"You mean the guy who holds the door and announces everybody?"

Both Aeka and Tenchi groaned out loud.

* * *

One of the things Tenchi liked the most about the Galaxy Academy was the weather schedule. Science had advanced enough here that they could control the weather. Adverse conditions, such as heavy rain and whatnot, were placed on a schedule so that the residents would know when to wear the appropriate gear. Today, however, the weather was crystal clear. It was a beautiful day for a walk. Even better than that, both Ryoko and Aeka were with him. Gone were the days of worrying about Aeka's emotional state. In fact, since their engagement, both ladies seemed happier than ever. They also seemed to be arguing much less.

Yes, indeed. Today was a beautiful day. The sun shone, the birds sang, the music played... With a startling revelation, Tenchi realized the music really was playing. The aching strums of a hard driving rock tune were flying through the air.

"Where's that coming from?"

Ryoko fixed her gaze on a nearby tall brick building with all it's windows thrown open.

"There."

"Where's what coming from?" Aeka asked as Tenchi followed Ryoko's gaze.

"Music." Tenchi answered.

"That?" Aeka sniffed her distaste. "It sounds like the screeching of cats in heat. No wonder Miss Ryoko likes it so much."

Ryoko directed a momentary glare Aeka's way, but soon returned her attention to the building. She did not care if Aeka liked rock or not. She did, and that is what counted.

Tenchi quickly noticed how focused Ryoko was on the sounds coming from within the building. Remembering that she had an affinity for the guitar, he decided to make a suggestion.

"Do you want to check it out?"

"Can I?" She hopefully asked, turning to look at Tenchi.

"Well, sure! You don't have to ask my permission."

For a short moment, Ryoko just stared at her fiancée, admiring him. Then, with a squeal of delight, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.

"You're the greatest!"

"Aww, gee, well..."

Aeka did not bother to object about Ryoko's enthusiastic display of affection towards Tenchi. Objecting would only start another argument. It was too nice of a day to spend fighting. She chose to just stand close by, politely ignoring the display.

Ryoko planted a wet, sloppy kiss on Tenchi's cheek as she stepped away to investigate the energetic sounds coming from nearby. The young man wiped the slobber from his face as Ryoko spun up into the air, laughing.

"Later, guys!" She called as she flew through one of the open windows.

"My." Aeka commented on Ryoko's abrupt departure. "She certainly seems excited."

Tenchi deigned not to respond to Aeka's comment, although he certainly agreed with it. Instead, there was something else he wanted to talk to her about.

"Actually, I kind of wanted to talk about the wedding."

"Is there something wrong?"

"Um... well... I was kind of thinking about your parents. I mean... how can I put it?"

Aeka heaved a huge sigh of relief.

"I think I know what you're thinking. Yes, it would be a major embarrassment if our child were born before the wedding. So sooner is better than later."

"I think so, too. So, when?"

"Well, I had always hoped for the spring. But..."

"But, does that really matter? I mean, we can just go to a different planet if you want a spring ceremony."

"I suppose."

"But..." Tenchi prompted, sensing something that Aeka had not yet said.

"I always expected I would be married on Jurai. But, that would pose a difficult problem. Yosho is Outcast. As his descendant, so are you, although it's not as much of a problem for you, as it is for my brother. In order to get either one or both of you permission to return to Jurai, consent must be obtained from all three of the other great royal families."

"Yeah. I remember the King saying something like that the last time we were on Jurai."

"Indeed. But, it will be much more difficult this time. We won't be asking permission just for a visit. We would be asking quite possibly for the entire empire. House Amaki will be the most difficult. They will probably ask for some kind of concession in return."

"Um, I think we're talking about two different problems."

"Yes, I think you're right about that. The first problem is where and when. I'm thinking it should be by the end of the current semester. Actually, that works out rather well. I... maintain no illusions about being able to complete the academic year."

"I'm sorry, Aeka. I've been really irresponsible."

"No. Don't you dare apologize."

Tenchi's eyes widened at Aeka firm denial of his apology.

"I am every bit as responsible as you. I am very proud, and very happy to bear you child. I don't regret it one bit and neither should you."

"Aeka..."

"There are consequences, of course. But it's nothing we can't handle, together."

"You're right. You are absolutely right. Okay. So, we have to get permission. How do we do that?"

"Well, quite frankly, I'm not sure."

Tenchi groaned in disappointment.

"However, my father would be a good place to start."

"Um, you know, I was kind of hoping to save him for last."

Aeka giggled at that.

"Don't worry about father. I know how to handle him. I learned from my mother, after all."

"Right. Well, assuming we get permission, let's talk about the where and when."

"When should be between semesters. That will minimize the disruption to yours and Ryoko's studies, give us enough time to prepare, and still enable me to... oh." Aeka paused in the middle of her sentence, as she realized something about her impending nuptuals that she was not happy about. Her eyes promptly began to tear.

"Aeka?"

"Oh, this is so unfair."

"What? What's unfair?"

"I won't be able to wear any of the wedding dresses I like."

"Why?"

The tears fell, and Aeka leaned against Tenchi as she started to cry.

"I'll be too fat! Wa-a-a!"

Tenchi put his arm around Aeka's shoulders, comforting her with as much good humor as he could muster considering how moody she had gotten lately.

"There now. You shouldn't worry so much. At least you and Ryoko will be able to pick out dresses together."

Aeka suddenly threw her hands up in the air, doing a complete emotional shift.

"Oh, well, now there's something to be happy about!"

Tenchi scratched vigorously at the back of his scalp as he wondered just how much more interesting Aeka's pregnancy was going to get. And with the added stress of planning a wedding, things were definitely going to get interesting.

"Uh, nine months, isn't it?"

* * *

Flying up to the tall window from which the music seemed loudest, Ryoko peered into the building. It looked like some sort of concert hall. The seats were empty. But a band played on, regardless. The group was composed of two guitar players (one of which was doubling as the vocalist), a bass player, and a drummer. The song was not particularly interesting, except for the lyrics. Ryoko chuckled when she realized the song was about a deaf, dumb, and blind pinball player. However, one of the guitar players needed practice, big time. Whichever one it was could not get through a single verse without making an audible mistake. Curious as to which performer it was, Ryoko descended from her perch in the window to investigate. As soon as the band members caught sight of a young woman descending from the window of what used to be a chapel, the song came to a shuddering halt.

"What'd you stop for?" Ryoko asked as she touched down in front of the stage.

The group stared at her until the drummer finally decided to speak.

"You don't suppose we offended someone, do you?"

"Come off it." The guitarist on the left replied. "This place is a concert hall, now. There hasn't been any worshipping here for centuries. Besides, what idiot worships a demon?"

A couple of years ago, Ryoko would gladly have claimed the title that guy had just bestowed upon her. But now... hearing someone refer to her as a demon actually hurt a bit. With a disgruntled huff, Ryoko dropped her book-bag on the floor. Locking her eyes on the guy who had called her a demon, she floated up into the air until she was about head-and-shoulders above him. Then, she slowly flew towards him until he was within arms' reach. Sweat poured down the guitarist's face as he watched his doom approaching. She stared at him for a few seconds before speaking.

"Give me the guitar."

"What if I don't want to?"

Electrical impulses arced across Ryoko's body from the head down to her toes as a small grin appeared on her face.

"I insist."

Ryoko suddenly found herself with two arms full of guitar.

"Hey!" She growled at the guitarist who was now sprinting for the back exit at top speed.

A pair of drum sticks suddenly clattered across the stage.

"Well, that's just great!" The drummer vociferously complained from the back. "Now what the Hell are we gonna do?"

"Kind of hard to have a band with only three members." The bassist added.

"Hold on, hold on." The lead guitarist said, trying to calm things down. "Ryoko, isn't it?"

Looking at the young man, Ryoko finally took note of his appearance. He had dark hair with light skin, and very casual clothes, giving him a fairly grungy look. Quickly skimming her gaze across the other two guys, she saw that they were at least similarly dressed, although not exactly.

"That's my name." Ryoko confirmed.

"Well, Miss Ryoko. Since you saw fit to scare off our rhythm guitarist, maybe you'd like to find us a replacement?"

Ryoko's second smile was a little more genuine than the first.

"Okay."

Slinging the guitar strap over her shoulder, Ryoko ran her fingernail across the guitar strings, producing a full, if slightly off-key, chord. She clucked her tongue in disappointment.

"Now I know where all those mistakes were coming from. You're really better off without that guy. I mean, if he can't even tune it right..." She adjusted the knobs at the guitar's head, bringing the tones into what she felt was better alignment. Another chord produced a much more satisfactory result.

"There. Now, what was that song you were just playing?"

"We haven't named it, yet."

"Hmm... It goes something like this, right?" Ryoko played a short segment of the rhythm part. Unfortunately, she had only heard it once, and could not remember the entire piece. But those listening were impressed, none-the-less.

"Not bad." The other guitarist commented on her performance. "But can you read sheet music?"

"What's sheet music?" Ryoko blithely asked, trying to remember the rest of the part.

"It's a way of writing music."

"They can do that?"

"Absolutely."

"Huh. No kidding. How's that work?"

The guitarist smiled broadly.

"Before we get into that, maybe we ought to introduce ourselves. I'm Rei, that's Bo on bass, and Ken on drums."

"Rei, Bo, and Ken. Okay, easy enough. I'm Ryoko. But, you knew that already."

"Well, it's kinda hard not to know about you. I mean, you're famous."

"Famous?"

"Or infamous, depending on how you look at it."

"Yeah, well... it's not like I had a choice."

"Tell you what. Why don't we go over to the Pore House and we can talk about sheet music."

Ryoko turned a suspicious eye towards Rei.

"Are you asking me out?"

Rei chuckled at that.

"We go out for drinks after every practice."

"Oh. Well, I guess that's okay, then. But if you ever ask me for a date, I'll kick your ass."

"Okay..." Rei tried to keep his curiosity from taking control. But the effort was a wasted one. "Why?"

"Because..." Ryoko's smile grew to enormous proportions and she began to giggle like a school-girl. "I'm getting married!"

The three musicians fell flat one their faces.

* * *

It was already dark when Ryoko returned home. To tell the truth, she was feeling a little guilty about having stayed out so late. It was not really that late; only late evening. But she had missed dinner. There was no regret, though. The time spent had been well worth it. The three musicians, Rei, Bo, and Ken all seemed genuinely interested in making a successful rock band. Rei had made good on his word to talk to her about sheet music. He had shown her some as an example. Strangely enough, Ryoko could practically hear the notes in her head when she looked at the sheets. But reproducing the sound was a different story. It was not like her voice was appropriate for mimicking the multi-tonal sounds of guitar chords. Still, she could understand what was on the paper. It was enough for now. But the most important part of this evening was the fact that she had made some new friends. That was the real reward.

As Ryoko phased through the walls of the house on the fly, she was surprised to find someone was still up in the living room. Curious, she touched down just inside the room. Tenchi was sitting on the couch watching some kind of late night programming, which was odd enough. But even stranger was the open can of beer on the table in front of him. She would have tried to sneak up behind him, except Tenchi seemed to be on alert. He suddenly looked in her direction.

"Ryoko!" Tenchi exclaimed leaping out of his seat. Ryoko's eyes went wide when he ran over and grabbed hold of her upper arms.

"For Gods' sake, Ryoko, where have you been?!"

"I..."

"You had me worried out of my mind!"

"I was just talking with some guys."

"All night?"

"It's not that late."

"Late enough! Geez, Ryoko, you even... wait. What do you mean, some guys?"

"Remember that music we heard? It was a rock band. They let me hang out with them. Hey!" Ryoko smiled despite the strange expression coming over Tenchi's face. "I got invited to join the band! Isn't that cool?"

"Yeah, swell." Tenchi turned away and began making his way to the stairs, leaving Ryoko behind with only late-night talk TV for company. "Sasami left your dinner in the auto-heater."

"Hey..." Mystified as to Tenchi's sudden attitude, Ryoko hesitated before slowly floating after him. "What gives?"

"Nothing."

"Well, why are you being like this?"

"Just forget it."

"I don't want to forget it. Tell me why."

Tenchi ignored Ryoko's repeated requests as he walk to his room.

"Tenchi-i-i... tell me why."

"No."

"Why are you being such a pain?"

"Ryoko, go to bed."

"Not until you tell me why you're being so mean!"

Stepping just through the open door to his room, Tenchi turned around and slid the new Japanese-style door closed in Ryoko's face. Ryoko just stared at the closed door. She really had no idea what to make of this. Unwilling to give up and unknowing of the reason for Tenchi's sudden coldness towards her, Ryoko phased through the door.

"What's the big deal?. You said it was okay."

Already busy removing his clothes, Tenchi looked up at Ryoko in surprise. Apparently, shutting the door in her face was not enough of a hint that he wanted to be away from her tonight. He was giving her the cold shoulder to keep from shouting at her. If she kept this up, that was exactly what would happen.

"That's not the point."

"What is the point, then?"

"The point is, I don't want you around tonight!" Tenchi quickly pulled his trousers the rest of the way off. Then he marched over to Ryoko and opened the door, once more. "Please leave."

Ryoko's jaw dropped and her eyes began to burn.

"What'd I do?" She half-heartedly asked.

Seeing that Ryoko had no intention of moving on her own, Tenchi set his hands on her shoulders and proceeded to firmly, yet gently, guide Ryoko back out the door into the hallway.

"Good night, Ryoko." He brusquely said before shutting the door again. The frame slid home with a thud.

"What did I do?" Ryoko whispered in the night. "Why are you so mad at me?" Closing her eyes caused the tears that had gathered there to spill out. "Why?" Ryoko set her forehead and hands on the door as she cried. "I don't understand." But Tenchi was already in bed on the other side of his very large bedroom where he could not hear the bewildered whispers of Ryoko's fragile heart.

"Don't you love me anymore?"

Staring blankly into the darkness of an empty hallway, Ryoko noticed a slim glimmer on the ring finger of her left hand. Wiping her eyes with her right hand, she saw that the glimmer was from the small diamond mounted on the thin gold band of her engagement ring. Ryoko passed her finger over the gemstone, momentarily eclipsing the pure glimmer from view. She almost lost it right then and there. This silly little stone that she could crush in her bare hands was the embodiment of a force so strong it could bring this being to her knees in seconds. It held more power over her than Kagato ever did. Ryoko's fingers curled inwards, pressing the tips of her nails against the wooden door. Her nails were strong enough to serve as claws, if she were so inclined. As Ryoko slowly slid to her knees, those claws dug thick furrows in the wooden slats of Tenchi's bedroom door. She sat back on her haunches, still staring at the ring.

It was further away now. Just like the purity of love that the diamond represented, so were Ryoko's hopes and dreams. All she wanted was the true feelings this pretty little trinket represented. But at every turn, her pure heart seemed farther and farther away. Ryoko lifted her head and hand, holding the ring at arm's reach. She turned her hand over, and the diamond was hidden. It was like a feat of prestidigitation. At the turn of a hand, her hopes disappeared. Another turn, and they were there again. But at each turn, the pain mounted. Eventually, she would reach her threshold, or tire of turning the hand to bring her goal back into view.

Letting her hands fall into her lap again, Ryoko grasped the ring in her fingers and began rotating it around her finger as she contemplated whether she could really marry Tenchi. She had made a snap decision when he had asked her to marry him. She had thought that that meant everything would be perfect, and there would never be any more pain. But that was obviously a pipe dream. What if marriage was not the end-all be-all of love? What then? She had no domestic skills to speak of, other than basic cooking and housework. The only thing she could do well was fight and have sex. Good sex was certainly a plus. But apparently it was not enough. With depressed sigh, Ryoko twisted the engagement ring over the knuckle of her finger.

"Don't you dare take that ring off."

Ryoko did not bother to turn her head when she heard Aeka's voice. But she did wipe her face again to rid herself of the signs of her pain.

"Why not?"

"What were you thinking of while you were staring at that ring?"

"You were watching me?"

"Yes. But you should answer my question, first. I think, then you will have the answer to yours."

"You first."

"Eh? What does it mean to me?" Aeka asked as she knelt down on the floor next to Ryoko.

"Yes."

Aeka took a deep breath as she tried to fit her feelings into words.

"This ring is the symbol of Lord Tenchi's love for me. I have learned that men don't seem to be able to relate their feelings as well as women. So, they give rings, and other such trinkets to those they love. It is an expression of all that has remained unsaid, and all that has yet to be said. It's a promise, from Tenchi to me."

"Well, that's... cute." Ryoko commented. "But, I see... myself."

"Yourself?"

"Look at it, Aeka. It's clear and pure. I see... the me I wish I was. I guess that doesn't make much sense, huh?"

"Actually, I think I understand what you mean."

"When Tenchi gave this to me, I thought that it meant I had finally become the kind of girl he could love with all of his heart. But, nothing's changed. I'm still the same old Ryoko."

"There is something my grandmother, Seto, was fond of saying. 'The only thing that changes when you get married is the size of your bank account.'"

"Tsk." Ryoko clucked her tongue at that. "That lady's weird."

"Hey. That's my grandmother you're talking about."

"Doesn't mean she isn't weird."

"I suppose."

Ryoko carefully ran the fingers of her right hand over the small stone.

"I want to be like this diamond."

"And then you would not be the woman that Lord Tenchi fell in love with. You would be someone else, and things would be different. Think about it. If you changed your past, would you have ever even met Lord Tenchi?"

Ryoko was quick to shake her head.

"No. He would never even have been born."

"There. So what are you complaining about? Despite the adversities you have faced, you still have much to be grateful for. For God's sake, Ryoko, you are going to marry Lord Tenchi! What more could you possible want?"

Ryoko finally lifted her eyes to look at Aeka. Somewhere, deep in the recesses of Ryoko's soul, Aeka could see that she had finally struck the right chord. Not even Ryoko could deny the importance of her relationship with Tenchi. A small grin finally graced the thin lips of Ryoko's face.

"Well, when you put it that way..."

"Tomorrow is another day. But, in case you're wondering, Lord Tenchi is upset with you because he wanted to discuss the wedding arrangements with us today."

"How was I supposed to know that?!"

"You weren't." Aeka said as she got back to her feet. "I'm sure Lord Tenchi will be in a better mood tomorrow. So I suggest you get some sleep tonight."

"I guess." Ryoko reluctantly accepted the virtue of Aeka's suggestion as the princess turned back towards her room. Just as Aeka was passing through the doorway into her room, Ryoko spoke again.

"Aeka?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks."

Aeka was so shocked at the courtesy that she stopped in her tracks and turned to look at the woman who was still sitting on the floor in front of Tenchi's door. With a start, Aeka noticed something about the way Ryoko was sitting with her legs folded under her and her hands on her knees. Other than her always unruly hair, she looked almost proper. At a loss of what else to say, Aeka responded with the only sensible thing she could think of.

"You're welcome."

END.

* * *

AFTERWORD: Kinda short, wasn't it?


	23. Expectations

INVASION: Volume 3, Part 7: Expectations 

DISCLAIMER: TENCHI MUYOU! is copyright AIC/Pioneer, LDC. I claim no rights to it or the characters. However, the events depicted within this story are entirely of my own imagination. Please do not change them!

FOREWORD: My apologies for taking so long to get this chapter out. This Spring was very busy for me. Things will go much faster from now on, as I've pretty much finished writing the next chapter already. I'm aiming to finish Volume 3 by the end of the year. Although, ending volume 3 with the upcoming wedding would be a nice break point between volumes.

AUTHOR: Dreamr  
E-MAIL:   
LAST REVISION:

* * *

BEGIN.

Since relocating to the Galaxy Academy, breakfast in the Masaki family was an ongoing affair over the course of the morning due to everyone's differing schedules. Washu, when she deigned to show-up for the most important meal of the day, was always the first. Sasami was usually next, since her school started earlier than the college-going young adults. Shortly after her, depending on the day of the week, were Tenchi and Aeka, usually at the same time since their classes were almost identical, then Ryoko, who was usually in a rush due to over-sleeping. But today was different. Today, Washu decided to actually eat a real breakfast with the rest of the family.

Washu sat down at the now appropriately shortened wooden table, thinking nice thoughts about the very thoughtful Princess Aeka, who had redecorated the house in the Japanese style to make Tenchi more comfortable. The kitchen help, a tall woman with green hair in a pony-tail and golden eyes, was returning to the kitchen after serving Washu an omelet when Sasami came bouncing through the dining room door in her sailor-style school uniform. The girl stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of Washu stuffing her face with eggs.

"Little Washu!"

"Hiya!"

Sasami approached the table a little slower than her initial entrance into the room.

"Wow. It's nice to see you having breakfast for once."

"Yup. I decided to make some time for the family today."

"Oh? It's too bad you couldn't do that on a day when I'm making breakfast."

Sasami's tone prompted Washu to pause in her chopstick-to-mouth stuffing action to look at her. The girl remained silent and serious for a moment before smiling.

"Just kidding!"

Washu pointed her chopsticks at Sasami.

"I'll remember that the next time you want a favor."

Sasami's amusement quickly changed to concern.

"You don't really mean that, do you?"

Washu couldn't help a chuckle at the way Sasami was flashing her big pink eyes in her most pitiful look.

"Not really."

"Oh, you!"

The sound of a jaw-cracking yawn alerted the two girls to the next arrival. The second surprise of the morning made itself known when Ryoko made her first appearance of the day.

"Yo."

Washu took little note of her daughter's arrival, focusing instead on her breakfast. Sasami stared at Ryoko in amazement.

"Wow. You're up early."

"So?"

Seeing Washu's enthusiasm at the breakfast table, Ryoko chose to sit away from her on the far side of Sasami, where she would be out of range of any potential danger.

"Jeez, what's gotten into her?"

"Hunger, I think." Sasami whispered to Ryoko.

"By the way she's eating, you'd think she was the one eating for two."

The girls stared at Washu, their eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Let's see." Ryoko began tallying the evidence. "She's never at breakfast."

Sasami took up the next point.

"She's always working late."

"When she does show-up, it's just to eat and run."

The girls both leaned closer to Washu, looking for some outward signs that they could interpret.

"Hmm..."

Washu looked up to see the two girls carefully examining her face.

"What?"

Sasami smiled.

"What's his name?"

Washu dropped her chopsticks.

"Eh?!"

"Come on, Washu. Who is he?" A frightening idea suddenly entered Ryoko's mind. "Hey! You'd better not be snogging my Tenchi!"

It started as a small snicker, then grew into a chuckle. Washu's face turned red as her laughter grew until it was shaking the house with its intensity.

"Me? Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Ha!"

"Admit it!" Ryoko demanded while Sasami nodded in agreement. "You've got a boyfriend!"

Washu hid her blushing face with one hand.

"Sweet innocent little ol' me? But, I'm so young! I'm not really sure I'm ready for that kind of a relationship."

"Don't play that innocent little girl act with me! We both know you can become an adult any time you want. So 'fess up!"

Washu had no intention of confirming or denying any relationship she may or may not have to these two little gossip mongers. The fact that she was still single made no difference what-so-ever when it came to her reply. Besides, it was way too fun to tease the girls than to simply put an end to it. Allowing her body to fill out to it's adult proportions, Washu wrapped her arms around her torso just under her breasts. 

"But after ten thousand years, I do sometimes get lonely for a man's company."

The grown scientist hefted her arms up a bit, intentionally making her breasts jiggle. The girls stared at Washu's chest with obvious envy.

"If only a sweet, yet passionate young man would take me to his bed -- er, heart. Then I would have the sex, I mean love, that I need. Oh, poor me!"

Setting her face in her free hand, Washu added in a few fake sobs into her performance just for effect. The girls next to her groaned aloud.

The door to the kitchen swung open, admitting the green-haired lady again. By now, Sasami was used to seeing the few staff that Aeka had spared going about their business in the house. This woman was new to Sasami. Although she was wearing an apron and chef's hat, her tone of voice said she was more than just a cook.

"If it's a boyfriend you're looking for, I know someone who's very good at matching couples."

Washu abruptly reverted to her younger shape, releasing the strain her adult body put on her teenager-sized academy faculty uniform.

"No, thanks. I don't need that kind of help." Her flat tone of voice indicated a total lack of interest.

"Excuse me." Sasami looked up at the woman. "Are you replacing our cook?"

"Not at all. Professor Washu asked me to take over for today so the usual cook can have a day off."

"Oh!" Washu interjected herself into the conversation. "You naughty girls made me forget my manners! I'd like you to meet the assistant Headmaster of the Galaxy Academy, Airi Masaki."

Airi glared at Washu out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm only an assistant because Professor Washu suddenly decided she wanted her old job back."

"Masaki?" Sasami asked, curious as to her family name.

"Yes." Airi stared right at Sasami, her gaze unwavering. "Lord Yosho is my husband."

Both Sasami and Ryoko leaned forward at that.

"Eh!?"

"That old dog!" Ryoko remarked loudly. "When did he find time to get married?"

"Oh, he didn't have much say in the matter." Airi explained. "He got me pregnant, then went chasing after some space-pirate who's name I can't remember."

Scratching at the back of her head, Ryoko laughed weakly under Airi's withering stare.

"Is that so?"

Meanwhile, Sasami was mentally climbing the Masaki family tree.

"Well, that means you're mine and Aeka's sister, and... ha! You're Tenchi's grandmother!"

A gout of flames leapt from Airi's mouth as she very loudly informed Sasami of her status within the family.

"DON'T CALL ME GRANDMOTHER!"

Washu rotated the protective welder's mask up from her face.

"Don't call Airi --"

Airi glared at Washu.

"...that."

Sasami peered over the edge of the table to see if it was clear. "No... kidding..."

The door to the hallway opened again. This time, a still tired Aeka began to shuffle in to the breakfast chamber, intent on something strictly liquid to wake her up. Some tea sounded about right. Solid food in the morning just didn't agree with her these days. However, when she saw someone she had seen once before when she had gone to see her brother at this same academy seven hundred years ago, her eyes came open and all vestiges of sleep faded from her mind.

"You!"

"Me." Airi just smiled at the elder princess.

"W-w-w-Washu! What is that person doing here?"

"She is graciously cooking us breakfast. Be polite or your eggs'll be runny."

Aeka's stomach flipped over at the thought of runny eggs. She promptly turned around and ran for the restroom while Ryoko snickered at her abrupt departure.

"Wuss."

Tenchi strode in through the same door, which was still flapping in the breeze. He looked down the hall after Aeka, somewhat concerned, but knowing that there was little he could do for her other than offer emotional support and get out of the way.

"Things sure are off to a quick start today."

Seeing a stranger in the room, Tenchi was quick to introduce himself.

"Oh, good morning. I'm Tenchi Masaki." He bowed politely.

Airi merely inclined her head.

"It's very nice to finally meet you, Tenchi. I'm Airi Masaki."

"Masaki?" Tenchi asked, unaware of the danger he was putting himself in.

"Do I have to explain this again?"

"Yes." Washu answered her.

"Maybe I should just put a plaque around my neck." Airi muttered to herself before continuing. "Very well. I was married to Yosho in absentium after he left to chase after Ryoko."

"Hey!" Ryoko suddenly exclaimed. "I thought you couldn't remember my name!"

Airi glared at Ryoko out of the corner of her eye.

"Oh! Look at that! It just suddenly came back to me."

Ryoko looked away, disgusted.

"Yeah, right."

"Grandpa's wife!?" Tenchi exclaimed in surprise. "So..."

The girls hit the deck expecting another nuclear blast.

"I have a grandmother again!"

Veins bulged on Airi's forehead as she ground her teeth and clenched her fists. This time, she was prepared, and managed to control her displeasure. Tenchi recoiled in fear at the sight of her expression.

"Out of respect for my... husband's grandson, I will very POLITELY remind him not to call me GRANDMOTHER!"

"Uh... sure."

"Although, all this talk of my husband does remind me of an interesting rumor I heard just this morning. I understand congratulations are in order." 

Tenchi raised an eyebrow at that, as Washu peeked over the top of the table.

"Is it clear?"

"Clear of what?" Airi asked.

"Uh, nothing." Washu responded, sitting up again. "Nothing at all."

As Tenchi took a seat next to Ryoko, he noticed a certain tenseness in her bearing. Gathering that it was probably from their argument last night, he decided that it would be a good idea to apologize sooner, rather than later.

"Ryoko, I'm sorry for how I acted last night. It was uncalled for."

Ryoko blushed as she meekly shook her head.

"No, I... guess you've got a point."

They sat quietly under the intense scrutiny of those assembled. Under the table where no one could see, Tenchi took Ryoko's hand and gave it a supportive squeeze. Ryoko returned the affectionate gesture as she turned her face to look at Tenchi with a loving smile. Someone's giggling reminded them that they were in the public eye, so to speak.

"How cute!" Airi quietly whispered to herself, grinning. "You know, about that pirate's name... I seem to have forgotten it again."

"Oh, really?" Ryoko mockingly asked.

"You were saying, um... Ms Airi?"

"Yes, thank you very much for paying attention to me. I hear you're getting married."

"Yes. But... how did you know? We haven't made any official announcements, yet."

"Oh, well there's no need, now. It's all over the news."

Everyone was quiet while they tried to figure out who could have spoiled the surprise. Gradually, everyone turned their attention to Ryoko.

"What? No one said I had to keep it a secret! And why should I?"

"Well, what's done is done, as Grandpa likes to say." Tenchi got up from the table without bothering to eat. "I'd better go get Aeka. We have to talk to her father before he finds out."

"Oh, it's much too late for that."

"Huh?"

"The King of Jurai has a very good information net. Almost as good as Lady Seto's. He'll probably be here in... a couple of hours. You'd better polish-up your sword skills."

"Do you think he'll want me to duel again?"

"Duel?" Airi flashed her toothiest smile. "You'll be lucky if that's all he wants."

"Oh, man." Tenchi dropped down to his knees.

"Actually," Washu rudely burbled around a mouthful of orange juice, "I bet he's more upset about you marrying Ryoko. You are a member of the royal family, after all. I don't think many people would appreciate her being brought into the family."

Sasami got up on her knees, drawing everyone's attention to her.

"We'd love to have her!"

"Well, it does make good sense, strategically. Even if you can convince the King of it, we still have to convince the other three Great Royal Houses. Lady Seto should support it, I think. Nishia Tatsuki will support it if Seto does. But Shusan Amaki... forget it. He and Azusa hate each other." Airi scratched at her tightly held hair. "This is very complex."

The room went earily quiet as those in attendance thought things over. Sasami's sudden screech brought everyone back to the everyday world.

"I'm gonna be late!" Looking down at the table, Sasami realized that they had spent so much time talking and gossiping that she had completely forgotten to have breakfast. Not even a single cup of tea had passed her lips. "And I forgot breakfast." Sasami's shoulders sank. She hated missing breakfast. It always made her feel sluggish and tired.

"Hold on!" Airi ran back into the kitchen. The sound of crashing pots and pans clanged through the air. A moment later, the green-haired woman burst from the kitchen with a box lunch in hand.

"Here you go! I made everyone a box lunch. If you like, you can have it on the way to school."

"Ah!" Sasami was so grateful for the thoughtful meal that she launched herself over the table at Airi to give her a hug. "Thank you so much, Sister Airi!"

Airi laughed in delight.

"It's my pleasure."

As they parted, everyone noticed that the box had been crushed between them. It's contents dripped from the broken corners.

"Sorry." Sasami apologized.

"I'll put it in a bag."

"Thanks."

Washu shook her head while chuckling with amusement. Tenchi and Ryoko were still making eyes at each other, and Airi was standing, so she figured that no one else had caught the flash of Sasami's Ryo-o-ki printed panties. Speaking of Ryo-o-ki, Washu wondered where the little creature had gotten off to.

"Hey, Ryoko. Have you seen Ryo-o-ki?"

"She's pottie-training." Ryoko answered without batting an eyelash.

"Eh?"

* * *

Aeka pounded on the restroom door again.

"Ryo-o-ki, please hurry! Oh, God..."

A little girl's voice came clearly through the door.

"Myan!"

* * *

"So, then." Washu asked, putting her feet up on the immense wooden desk in her very large faculty office. "What do you think?"

"Ryoko's a cute girl." Airi remarked as she rounded the desk. "She's obviously infatuated with Tenchi."

"It's more than an infatuation."

Airi grasped the big toe of Washu's right foot and tossed the shorter woman's feet from the desk-top.

"This may be your office, but it's my desk. Keep your stinky feet off of it."

"And such a nice desk it is, too!" Washu began spinning around in the chair, enjoying the sense of imbalance that the rotational forces of inertia were imparting on her inner ear.

"She's cute because she wears her heart on her sleeve. But that can be used against her."

"Anyone who gets between her and what she wants is either very stupid or very brave."

Airi sighed at Washu's seeming lack of interest.

"If Ryoko does any worse this semester than the last, she will be kicked out of the academy."

Washu stopped spinning around. Her head wobbled a bit as she waited for her balance to return to normal.

"Whatever for?"

Airi slapped her hands on the desk and leaned forward in Washu's face.

"Dammit, will you for one moment be serious!?"

"Ms Airi, why are you spinning around in a circle?"

Airi began to growl deep in her throat. If there was anything she disliked as much as being called Grandmother, it was not being taken seriously when she was trying to actually be serious.

"Listen very carefully, Professor Washu. If Ryoko's average falls even one percentage point, she will be placed on Academic Suspension for the next semester, and made to repeat the previous semester next year. There is nothing I can do about that."

Lifting a hand to her head, Airi stood up again, the irritation on her face having been replaced by worry.

"And I hear she's even joined a musical band! For goodness sake, she doesn't have the time to fool around with things like that! She needs to study and get her grades up!"

"True."

"So why won't you do something about it!?"

"Because if I get involved, everyone will think I used my pull as Headmaster to keep her in."

Airi sat on the edge of the thick wooden desk with her arms folded over her chest, grumbling to herself.

"She needs more discipline."

"No. Little Ryoko has had more discipline than she can take. What she needs is to realize that she is responsible for her actions, and that her future is dependant on those actions, not the whims of those around her. If she flunks out, then it will be her own fault and no one else's."

"Tough love."

Washu stared up at the expanse of stars displayed across the ceiling.

"I want Ryoko to succeed. It would be a snap for me to hack into the academy records and change her grades."

"It would also be very illegal."

"Yes, it would. As well as unfair to Ryoko."

"This is just so frustrating! I saw her entrance exam results. She is smart! But she won't consider going to any other department except Religion."

Washu gave the chair another spin.

"I wonder why that is?"

"Oh, yes. I almost forgot that she's now engaged. How wonderful. Another distraction."

"So, what are you going to do?"

Airi stood up on her own two feet, preparing to try to threaten Washu with the potential embarrassment of her daughter's failure.

"Professor, you sponsored Ryoko. If she fails, the media will have a field day. There are members of the Board that would love to see her expelled, and you publicly embarrassed. I can work to keep things quiet. But, if something doesn't change... Well, I think you should be prepared for the worst."

"So, you expect her to fail."

"Like all students, I expect her to at least make an attempt at passing."

Clasping her hands behind her back, Airi took a short stroll around the front of the desk.

"Besides those who want her out, there are some who are very enthusiastic about her attendance here, myself included. The split is about even. The decision, if it comes down to it, will be made by the few Board members who are neutral or undecided about her."

Again, Airi leaned forward over the large wooden desk pleading for some assistance.

"Professor, please try to convince her to transfer! Professor Naguma in Archaeology is begging for her reading skills! Cryptologists and linguists all over the academy want her! Even those stalwarts over in Astrophysics could use her! Professor... no. Little Washu, please try to convince Ryoko to transfer to another field of study."

Looking up into Airi's eyes, Washu could see she meant business. It was evident to her that Ryoko would fail if she continued to disregard her academics for other extracurricular activities, such as Tenchi, and playing guitar in a band. Those weren't bad things. In fact, Washu considered them vital to Ryoko's social development. But priorities needed to be established. If she did not pass, Ryoko would not be allowed to stay at the academy with Tenchi. Of course, she would refuse to leave him. Then there would be trouble. Besides the normal academicians, there were practical theorists who preferred weapons research. Many of them would love a chance to test their inventions against Ryoko. Some of their more interesting experimental prototypes had the potential to cause great damage. The Galaxy Academy was not the place to pick a fight. Trying to appear less concerned than she actually was, Washu lifted her feet back up on to the desk.

"I'll talk to her."

Airi heaved a sigh of relief.

"Thank you."

* * *

The day was bright. The sky was blue with some sparsely spread puffy clouds. The professor's voice droned on mechanically, lulling students to near catatonia. Suddenly, the classroom darkened, drawing the attention of the undergraduate students to the windows. The very large and dark shadow upon the ground indicated that something was blocking the sun's rays. Crowding the window in hopes of finding a little excitement, the class saw an immense wooden ship in the sky directly above the building that they were in. Everyone knew that only Jurai had the technology to create such a ship. However, this being the Galaxy Academy, having a Jurai battleship hovering overhead was not an everyday occurrence.

"Oh, no." Aeka uttered with dread when she saw the ship. Behind her and Tenchi, the other students were making bets as to how long Tenchi would live once the King of Jurai got a hold of him.

A sudden blast of wind whooshed through the window, heralding the King's arrival. Standing upon a floating wooden platform with one hand on the convenient safety rail, Azusa descended vertically into view. He glowered menacingly at the students, frightening them enough that they immediately backed-up to the far wall, leaving Aeka and Tenchi to face the brunt of his displeasure.

"Father." Aeka bravely greeted him. "What brings you --"

"Silence!"

Aeka visibly cringed at his stern reprimand.

"The two of you will come with me. This matter is not for the public."

"Yes, Father." Aeka promptly complied by climbing out the window to join Azusa on the same platform that he stood on. Once she was safely aboard, she turned and held out a hand to assist Tenchi.

"Come."

"Right." Tenchi briefly acknowledged before he also climbed out the window.

* * *

As in the past when he had traveled aboard a Jurai ship, Tenchi felt awed by its majesty. However, the bridge of this ship was several times larger than both Aeka's Ryuo and Misaki's Karin. It was so big that there was even room for a reflecting pool below the raised dais where the king sat on his throne at the foot of his tree. Strangely though, they seemed to be the only ones on board. Up on the upper deck, Azusa sat down upon his throne with a flourish of his royal robes. After a few seconds more spent glowering at the young adults, he waved them up to join him.

Aeka very nearly sighed aloud in relief. Getting invited up meant that her father wished to discuss the issue of her betrothal in a more relaxed, informal matter. As she and Tenchi started up, Aeka noticed that Azusa's fingers were drumming on the arm rest of his throne. He may be relaxed, but he still looked rather perturbed. There were several small variations of pillows strewn about on the floor around the King's throne. Aeka picked one that caught her fancy and sat down. Tenchi followed her lead without any prompting. He also chose a pillow, though at random, and sat, patiently awaiting his doom. Azusa sighed aloud, signaling the beginning of the conversation.

"I have heard a rather... disturbing rumor. They say that the First Princess of Jurai is to be wed."

"It's true." Both Aeka and Tenchi answered at the same time. The pattern of Azusa's finger drumming changed from a complex rhythm to a straightforward tapping.

"This... is not acceptable."

"I've made up my mind, Father." Aeka insisted. "This is what I want for myself."

"I feel the same way." Tenchi agreed.

"Do you know the first thing about politics?"

Tenchi found himself immediately on the defensive. But the question was valid, considering the importance of such a marriage as he and Aeka desired.

"Not really. But if learning about politics is what I have to do to marry Aeka, then that's what I'll do."

Azusa stared hard at Tenchi for almost a full minute as he considered what they were asking of him. It was certainly within his power to allow it, even command it if he felt it necessary. The worst thing about this was how he felt like he had been caught off-guard. He'd rushed to the academy as soon as he'd received the report, intending to make a big stink. Now that he was here with the two of them discussing it like rational people, his ire was not quite so strong. This was his daughter's future he was meddling in. He remembered vividly how Seto had loved meddling in his affairs when he was young. In the name of Tsunami, he hated having his affairs managed by that old grimalkin. Frankly, he wouldn't mind if the whole issue would evaporate like a bad dream. Unfortunately, that was not likely to happen anytime soon.

"What can you offer my daughter?"

Tenchi carefully considered his response before speaking. "I'm not certain of exactly how it works, but, if I understand things right, since my grandfather is the Crown Prince of Jurai, I could someday inherit the throne."

Azusa quickly adjusted his opinion of Tenchi's linguistic prowess up a notch. The young man had lured him in with the image of a country bumpkin and then come out like an angry bear who's cave was being invaded. If not for Aeka's near smirk, he might have laughed out loud.

"That is true. But this goes against all of our traditions. There should be a marriage candidacy and duels."

"Father, please. Lord Tenchi has already defeated your chosen man. Who else could there be?"

"If I have to fight another duel, then I will. I'd rather work things out peacefully, though."

The King found that his arguments were become less than effective. His only real concerns were Tenchi's lack of a proper upbringing, and the other half of the rumor, Ryoko.

"The rumors also say that you also intend to marry that... that demon, Ryoko."

"Ryoko is not a demon. And yes, I want to marry both Aeka and Ryoko."

The king's response was succinct, and to the point.

"No."

"Pardon?"

"As you were so quick to point out, you are a lineal descendant of the Jurai royal family. Ryoko is an enemy of Jurai. The union you wish to create would allow Ryoko to become one of us. That cannot be allowed."

Tenchi found himself in a difficult spot. Although Aeka's father seemed to be amenable to his marrying her, his pledge to marry both or neither meant that he would have to go against the wishes of the King of Jurai, which was probably a very bad idea, or give up on his wedding plans. That thought sent a jolt of irritation through Tenchi. Taking a deep breath, he braced himself for rough sailing.

"With respect, when I asked Aeka and Ryoko to marry me, I swore that I would only marry them if they both agreed. I believe that it would be wrong of me to place one above the other."

The King made a noise in the back of his throat that reminded Tenchi of his grandfather.

"It's impossible. Even if I were to agree, the other houses would not."

"Other houses?" Tenchi asked, wondering what any other families of Jurai had to do with it. Fortunately, Aeka was there to explain.

"Lord Tenchi, do you remember what I told you about the four great houses of the Jurai Royal Family?"

"Yeah, I think so. They're Masaki, Kamiki, uh, Tatsuki, and... um... Ame- ..."

"Amaki." Aeka reminded him.

"Yes! Amaki."

Anyway, if a prince or princess wishes to marry someone who is not of royal lineage, then he or she must get the other three houses to accept that person into the royal family. This is usually accomplished by adoption, or through the tree-choosing ceremony."

"I see. So, what if the answer is no?"

"Then..." Reminded of her father's mother, Amame, who left the royal family and Jurai itself to marry her love, Yotsuga, a mere Galaxy Police detective, Aeka looked up at her father. "Then he or she must either give up, or leave the royal family forever."

"So, all we have to do is get the four houses to accept Ryoko."

Azusa kept quiet, waiting to see how long it took Tenchi to realize the impossibility of what he was asking. It didn't take long. After a few seconds, Tenchi's shoulders slumped.

"I see your point."

"Very well." Azusa intoned as if the conversation were over. "Since you now see that what you ask is not going to happen -"

"No."

Azusa sat bolt straight when his daughter explicitly and firmly contradicted him.

"What?"

"Father, I know that Lady Funaho and Lady Seto would accept Ryoko. If house Kamiki were to publicly support her, then House Tatsuki would fall in line, as well."

"Hmph. And what of House Amaki, Aeka? What do you think it would take to get Lord Shusan to accept her, eh? Perhaps another dozen trees to help defend the Tenju?"

Aeka's mouth thinned as she pursed her lips in determination.

"I don't care if it take a hundred. Lord Tenchi has asked me to be his bride, and I will be so, even if I have to plant Ryuo right next to Funaho!"

The King's hair turned stark white when he heard Aeka's tone. He felt like his thumbs were in corkscrews and someone was tightening them millimeter by millimeter.

"But... but... it's not... I can't... urgh!" Azusa propped his elbow on one armrest and set his cheek on his clenched fist, sulking. "I'll practically have to hand the crown to him..."

"I'm sure you'll come up with something to satisfy him."

Azusa sighed loudly, knowing full-well that he was going to lose this debate. However, he could at least get some concessions from the opposition.

"Tenchi must learn the ways of Jurai. The day will come when he must serve the people, whether as king or otherwise."

"I understand." Tenchi respectfully answered, bowing his head.

"Father?"

"What?"

"Thank you. I know that I'll be very happy with Lord Tenchi as my husband."

Azusa blushed to hear his daughter thank him so.

"Ah, well... Ahem! You're welcome."

* * *

Kirito was just reaching orbital escape velocity when the proximity warning alarm went off. Since the alarm would only go off if a ship capable of causing his craft damage appeared, Azusa had a hunch who the alarm might be announcing. Not wanting to appear rushed or guilty, he waited to be hailed. It was no surprise when a holographic image of Seto Kamiki appeared in mid-air before him.

"I hope I'm not too late."

"Too late for what, Lady Seto?"

"Oh, aren't you playing coy today. Very well. Since you seem to be leaving, can I assume everything is taken care of?"

"Er, yes. Everything is fine here."

"Is that so? Well then, I'll just be on my way."

Azusa tried to keep silent, but he knew he had to breech the subject with Seto at some point. Better now than later.

"Wait!"

"Yes?"

"There is one... wrinkle."

"A wrinkle you say? Nothing a good flat-iron won't take care of, I hope."

The King grimaced on his throne, still sulking.

"My silly daughter insists on marrying Yosho's grandson."

"Tenchi? Wonderful! They should make a cute couple. Although, I have to admit to some disappointment at not having been their matchmaker."

Frustrated beyond tolerance, Azusa slammed his fist on the armrest of his throne.

"This is intolerable!" Lurching to his feet, the king began to prowl around in front of his seat. "How could I say yes to such an insane demand?"

"Oh, come now, Azusa-chan. I'm sure Tenchi will make Aeka a fine husband. Why, with the proper training, anyone can become King of Jurai."

Azusa sent Seto a nasty glare. He himself had been taken, with permission, from his parents and then trained in the ways of Jurai specifically for that purpose by Seto.

"That's not the problem!"

Seto felt a bit taken aback at Azusa's very verbal objections.

"Then, what is the problem? Or will I have to go ask Aeka myself?"

"Tenchi insists on marrying that... that demon-girl, as well!"

"Oh, my. That is rather..."

"Impossible!" Azusa shouted across the bridge of his ship. "And I said yes."

Seto nearly leapt through the view-screen in shock.

"What!? How in the name of Tsunami are we supposed to arrange that kind of a wedding?"

"I had no choice! Aeka threatened to leave the royal family if I said no."

Seto actually groaned out loud. There were only a few methods one could employ to get their way with this king. But whenever one of Azusa's precious little girls put her foot down, he folded like a cowboy with a bad poker hand.

"For heaven's sake, you've certainly put your foot in it this time. When Lord Shusan hears of this, he'll likely ask for a vote of no confidence."

"He wouldn't dare." Azusa growled.

"You give him too little credit. If I didn't know you as I do, I would ask, myself."

Azusa snorted in displeasure. "Your support in this matter is duly noted."

"You're quite welcome." Seto sighed again. "What a bother. Well, since you've already given your word..." Seto waited for Azusa's confirmation.

"Yes."

"Then we had best figure out how to get Lord Shusan to allow Miss Ryoko into the Royal Family."

"Tch. I may as well just hand the crown to him."

"Oh, stop. He's not getting the throne and you know it. Besides, can you imagine Lord Shusan as King of Jurai?"

"I have a harder time imagining Ryoko as a princess."

"Oh, I don't know. A little make-up, some lessons in etiquette..."

"Are you serious?"

"Do we have a choice?"

"No."

"Well, then. What about little Sasami. Lord Shusan has a nephew about her age. And I believe they've already met."

Azusa shook his head.

"You know how arranged marriages turn-out in this family."

"True. But, he is currently staying at the academy with his brother, Lord Seiryu. Perhaps you could offer him exclusive rights for courtship. No promises, just the opportunity to try and prove himself to Sasami."

Azusa circled the throne like a shark seeking prey.

"She's not old enough to be courted."

"Oh, it's only a matter of months." Seto reminded him. "And as you say, she is still young. What trouble could she possibly get into with Little Shuzan? He knows the rules, I'm sure."

"I don't like it." Azusa growled.

Since there was nothing that could be done at the moment, Seto decided a change in topic was in order.

"That is my suggestion, your Highness." Seto intentionally used the king's title to let Azusa know she was switching from family matters to official ones. "There are other issues to discuss, if you feel inclined."

"Please." Azusa rounded the throne and sat down again, glad to talk about something else. However, the image of Seto crackled and spat for a second, then cleared. Her picture was now accompanied by a small blinking red light, indicating that the transmission was on a secure frequency.

"We lost three ships today."

The King grimaced at this unwanted news.

"Where?"

"It was a small protected colony on the far side of the galaxy. Civilian casualties were minimal, but the planet was taken."

"Another colony. They seem to be focusing on those rather than strategic locations."

"Yes. I might add that the colonies that have been attacked all bear a strong resemblance to Tenchi's home planet."

"Are they after the planets, or are they looking for him?"

"Or one of the others. Washu perhaps?"

Azusa stared at his feet for a moment as he considered what this new information might reveal. There was a definite pattern to the attacks. If the enemy was going for the colony planets, they would simply continue to do so. If not, and the true target was Tenchi or someone with him, then they would have no choice but to launch a full-scale assault on the Galaxy Academy. While the academy was not officially affiliated with Jurai any longer, they still worked hand-in-hand on many occasions. The Galaxy Police also maintained it's headquarters in the same system, with it's own police academy on the very same planets.

"Hmm... if the enemy learns that the group has moved to the Galaxy academy, they may attack there."

Seto chuckled at the idea of an armed attack against the academy. Other than Jurai, the Galaxy Academy was the only other place in the galaxy that could resist an invasion as well as Jurai.

"That would be foolish unless the goal is assassination. A small group could infiltrate the academy undetected."

As much as he disliked the idea of Tenchi marrying both Aeka and Ryoko, Azusa had a strong premonition that there was little he could do about it. Therefore, the best thing to do would be keep an eye on things. Also, if there was any danger to his family, he would see to it that all efforts were taken to prevent any unfortunate occurrences.

"I want a constant watch on Aeka and Sasami."

"Done." Seto did not bother to tell Azusa that her agents had been watching the group since their arrival at the academy. "But that does little to protect the rest of the empire. I hate to say it, but we are spread too thin. We need the other houses to effectively protect our colonies. People are beginning to notice the sudden shifts in deployed vessels. Ships are leaving areas that have long enjoyed their protective presence in order to defend other areas. It's only a matter of time before word gets out that we are under attack."

"What of Lord Tatsuki? Has he responded to my request for more ships?"

"Nishia has offered his full and complete support. House Tatsuki's fleet is at your disposal."

King Azusa heaved a sigh of relief. Although he was the nominal leader of Jurai, the other Royal Houses were under no legal obligation to lend him use of their military might unless he chose to invoke his right to declare a military emergency. The houses would then have no choice but to obey. However, if he did so, every man, woman, and child in the galaxy would hear about it. For the moment, he wanted to keep things quiet and prevent a panic from spreading throughout the empire. Hopefully, the attacking forces would either see the futility of their attacks, or be destroyed before any significant damage was done.

"Very good."

"I would think so." Seto snorted in contempt. "But, so far the attacks have been of a rather small scale. Should these small groups combine into one large force..."

Azusa was well acquainted with the tactics the invading forces used against Jurai ships. With the Light-Hawk Wings pointed in one direction, scores of other attacking ships could swarm them from behind. The only effective defense was to have several Jurai ships together facing different directions for mutual defense. But the Royal trees were rare and difficult to produce compared to the mass-produced ships that the Galaxy Police and other nations used. Also, only third-generation or higher ships could create Light-Hawk Wings of their own volition. Lesser ships had to be accompanied by those higher generation ships to be effective. That meant Jurai forces had to adopt pack-tactics. Considering the number of ships available, this made for a very thin defensive screen. Azusa hoped that the enemy fleets would combine. Then they would all be in one place.

"Then our enemy shall be revealed and we can crush them in one blow!"

Seto felt a bit of surprise at Azusa's sudden enthusiasm. But, then again, he much preferred open battle to subtle strategy and tactical trickery.

"As you say. As well, I think the wedding will be good for the people of Jurai. Should things turn for the worse, it will give them something to celebrate. Parties are always good for moral."

Azusa harrumphed to himself, acting as if he were displeased. At least this time there would be enough time to arrange a proper wedding suitably large enough for his daughter.

"As you say."

* * *

Washu could hear the throbbing musical tune playing within the old-style theater even before she actually entered the building. Hearing the song wasn't much of a surprise, considering that it was still late summer and the building's windows and doors were all open. Strolling through the double doors that formed the main entrance, Professor Washu Hakubi, Headmaster of the Galaxy Academy and all it's attendant facilities, went to see what was going on inside. More specifically, she went to see what was going on with her favorite creation, Ryoko.

On the other side of the main doors there was a foyer where tickets had apparently once been sold for events, as evidenced by the clear-paneled booth to one side. The less impressive inner doors were also wide open, allowing passage to anyone who cared to enter. The main room of the theater was fairly typical of such venues, with sloping floors and many rows of seats. At the far end of the large room there was a stage with much electrical music equipment. Seeing all the amplifier cabinets and other sound equipment, Washu had to admit the band looked pretty well organized. She wondered if they had some sort of Academy sponsorship. Perhaps it was an official club or some such. It would be easy enough to find out. But that wasn't why she was here.

Ryoko was also up on the stage playing her guitar along with the three grungy young men who made up the rest of the band, when she was supposed to be in a Humanities class that would make up for having failed the normal class last year. Sighing with disappointment, Washu turned left to go around the center column of seats. As she made her way down the aisle, she noticed the lead guitarist was keeping an eye on her while both playing guitar and singing. It was an impressive feat of multi-tasking for a normal person. Although Washu would have liked to take the time to learn if he had received any form of enhancement, she had other business to attend to. Not bothering to yell over the music, Washu drew a thumb across her throat signaling that the group should cease playing. The lead player immediately complied and even began calling for the others to do the same.

"Hold it. Guys, stop."

The disrupted song came to a lurching halt as each of the other players also discontinued their respective contributions, Ryoko included.

"Hey, what gives?" Ryoko looked around, finally noticing that someone had come to watch. "Washu? What do you want?"

"Aren't you supposed to be in Remedial Humanities?"

Ryoko blanched visibly.

"Uh, that's tomorrow. Right?"

"No, Ryoko. It WAS tonight, almost an hour ago."

"Oops. I thought it was Wednesday." Ryoko chuckled weakly in an attempt to fool her mother into thinking she had forgotten which day it was. "Oh, well. Too late now."

"It's never too late for remedial classes, Little Ryoko." Washu glared up at her daughter from the theater floor. It didn't take any words, spoken or otherwise, to communicate to Ryoko that Washu was displeased. Her pursed lips and fixed stare spoke volumes. Ryoko sighed.

"Well, I guess I'd better go do some studying."

Washu waited patiently until Ryoko had gathered her guitar and books. Then she turned her attention to the other band members, who were nervously awaiting whatever fate may befall them.

"Thank you gentlemen for keeping an eye on my little girl. I hope she hasn't been too much trouble."

"Er... no." Rei answered. "Actually, we like having her here."

Washu raised an eyebrow as the other two musicians nodded their agreement.

"See?" Ryoko confidently spoke as she joined Washu on the floor with instrument in hand. "I can be helpful."

"Sometimes, you're just as clueless as Tenchi."

"Eh?"

Washu reached up and grabbed Ryoko by the ear.

"Yeow! Dammit, leggo! That hurts, you little freak!"

"Is that any way to speak to your mother?" Washu turned slowly around, dragging Ryoko in a circle around her. "You and me are gonna have a nice long chat when we get home, young lady."

"How am I s'poseta hear if you rip my frickin' ear off?!"

"Keep talking, my darling little delinquent."

The band members watched in astonishment as the Headmaster of the Galaxy Academy led Ryoko away like a disobedient little girl. Bo, the bassist, shook his head.

"Too weird, man."

Ken, the drummer, hit a rim-shot on his drum set, lending a comical aspect to the situation, which made Rei suddenly burst out laughing.

Ryoko apparently heard him. She turned as far as she could manage and yelled at him over her shoulder.

"What are you laughing at, clown-boy?!"

"Mind your manners, Little Ryoko." Washu gave Ryoko's ear a tug, pulling her back around front.

"Ow!"

Rei had the good sense to wait until Ryoko and Washu were out of sight, and hopefully out of earshot before speaking about them to his colleagues.

"So guys, what do you think?"

"She's hot." Ken instantly pointed out.

"Besides that."

While vocal opinions were not forthcoming, Bo began playing a simple rock tune on his bass. Almost immediately, Ken added a percussion line suitable to Bo's bass line.

"Her playing screams rock and roll, man!"

"So, what you're saying is..." Rei swung his arm around and struck a massive power chord that shook the disused theater to it's rafters. "...we should switch from grunge to rock and roll." Rei added the guitar piece that was meant to accompany the bass and percussion that his friends were playing. His playing was effective in telling the other band members that he felt the same.

Casting another glance towards the front of the theater, Rei knew that having a hot girl in the band would attract more attention from male fans, thereby broadening the band's appeal. But, besides that, Rei couldn't wait to see Ryoko in skin-tight leather.

* * *

Tenchi stood in Aeka's bedroom, looking down at his fiancée with great concern. Although he understood that with the hormonal changes she was going through, there would be good days and bad days, he still didn't like seeing her lying ill in bed. Aeka lay on her back covered up to her chin with a blanket and a warm cloth on her forehead. Worse, she refused to allow him to stay with her.

"Aeka, are you sure I shouldn't stay here with you? It won't hurt any to miss one class."

"No. You should go."

"I don't know..."

"Please, Lord Tenchi. I'm sure I'll be fine after I've rested some. And I'm depending on you to take notes so I won't fall behind."

"I'd rather stay here with you."

Aeka smiled despite her illness.

"Thank you. But, you're going to be late."

Tenchi sighed with reluctance at leaving Aeka behind when she was sick.

"All right. But I'll come straight home afterwards."

"Of course."

Aeka closed her eyes so she could get some rest. She got a pleasant surprise when Tenchi leaned over her and placed a small kiss on her lips.

"Ryoko's studying downstairs. I'll tell her to keep an ear out for you."

"Okay."

Picking-up his bag of books from where he had dropped it at Aeka's bedside, Tenchi left the room. Aeka remained in bed, waiting for the prearranged signal. Before long, Ryoko phased through the bedroom wall.

"He's gone."

Aeka threw her covers aside, revealing that she was fully dressed to go out. She practically leapt out of bed.

"Excellent. Although I hate lying to Lord Tenchi, I must ensure that nothing... inappropriate happens to Sasami while she is out with Shuzan. I am, after all, responsible for her welfare while she is staying with us at the academy."

"Sure, sure. Hurry up, will ya?"

"I'm coming! What good will it do if I fall down the stairs and break my neck?"

"Well, I would have Tenchi all to myself..."

"You beast!"

Ryoko snickered as she floated along beside Aeka towards the front door. Sasami had left a few minutes before Tenchi on her way to meet Shuzan for her date. Although Sasami probably wouldn't have termed it thus, everyone else called it that, except for Tenchi, who was too polite to put her in a position of discomfort.

Having reached the bottom of the stairs, Aeka went into the foyer and quickly put on her shoes. She then reached for the door handle and pulled it open. When she saw a man with dark stringy hair in black leather clothes with chains and other metallic accoutrements standing in front of the door with a raised fist, she screeched in fright.

"EYAHH!"

The man, suddenly confronted with a screaming woman that he had never seen before, shouted in surprise.

"HEY!"

Curious as to what all the shouting was about, Ryoko stuck her head through the door to see who or what had frightened Aeka. She recognized the man as Rei.

"Hey, Rei."

"You know this man?" Aeka asked while mentally willing her heart to return to its normal pace.

"Yeah. He's the singer and lead guitar for my band."

Rei relaxed when he realized that he was not about to be blown to dust by a frightened Jurai princess.

"Hey, Ryoko." Rei greeted. "Wow. That was quite a surprise, huh? Sorry for dropping in unexpectedly, but I wanted to talk to you about the band."

"Sure. Come on -- ow!" Ryoko jumped when Aeka interrupted her by delivering a sharp elbow to her side.

"Actually, we were just on our way out."

"Oh. Uh..."

"Aeka was just on her way out." Ryoko slipped behind Aeka and pushed her through the door, past Rei, and down the walk.

"Excuse me? I thought we were both going to keep an eye on my sister?"

"Change of plans." Ryoko turned back to the house to talk with her new friends. "I'm sure you can handle this itsy bitsy little thing all by yourself."

"Oh, thank you ever so much for your support, Miss Ryoko. Remind me never to ask you for a favor again." Aeka turned away from the band. "Azaka! Kamidake!"

Eager to be of use, the two rarely summoned guardians made a quick appearance.

"At your command, Highness!"

"We are going to follow Sasami, but discreetly. Understand?"

"Yes, Princess!"

"Very good. Which way did she go?"

Ignoring Aeka's departure, Ryoko walked confidently up to her fellow band-mate.

"So, what's the occasion?" Ryoko eyed Rei's new outfit. "And how come you're dressed like a goth?"

"Actually," Rei began the explanation, "we've decided in a format change."

"Huh?"

"We're going to be a rock band from now on."

"Okay." Ryoko paused, expecting that her friend would explain why they had made the change. But no explanation seemed to be forthcoming.

"Um... why?"

"To tell the truth, we've kind of been evaluating you."

Ryoko immediately felt a sense of annoyance. The last thing she wanted was to be evaluated some more.

"Say what? I thought I was already in?"

"You don't think we'd hire just anybody without so much as an audition, do you?"

"Uh, I guess not." Ryoko scratched at her scalp in consternation.

"Anyway, you're now officially in. But, we think you'd do better in a rock band. So, we changed the band just for you."

Ryoko felt genuinely surprised that the guys had made that kind of change just to suit her playing style.

"No shit?"

"No shit. However, there is one condition."

"Ah. Here it comes." Ryoko nodded in understanding, anticipating a specific request concerning further requirements for her continued association with the mostly male group.

Rei whipped out the outfit he and the other guys had picked out for her.

"If you want to play in a rock band, you have to look like a rocker. So, we emptied our extraordinarily shallow pockets, as well as the band's costume fund, and got you this. Anything else you want for clothes is on you."

Ryoko stared at the tight leather outfit. It was the sort of thing that would show her figure without showing too much, meaning there was plenty of open chest for visible cleavage. However, she was a bit leery of gifts from men since her little affair with Zak.

"Are you sure you're not trying to come on to me?"

Rei actually raised an eyebrow. While he was looking forward to seeing Ryoko in this outfit, he really hadn't been thinking anything like that at the moment of presentation. The possibility had crossed his mind a number of times, but not at that particular moment.

"No. That wasn't... that wasn't what I was thinking of."

Putting both hands on her hips, Ryoko stared some more.

"Hey, look. I think you're hot. But you already said your not available. And if that's the way it is, then fine. But in a rock band, you have to look the part. If you want to wear something else, that's fine. I'm sure the guys'll understand if you want to exchange this for something else."

Still feeling a bit uneasy about accepting a gift from another man, Ryoko finally averted her gaze. She searched about, hoping for some form of divine guidance. Without really intending to, she performed a very feminine gesture of reaching up to tuck a loose strand of hair over her ear.

"I don't know. It's probably not even the right size."

"Probably not." Rei agreed. "But, you could try it on."

Ryoko drew the big toe of her right foot across the wooden steps.

"You don't understand."

"Apparently not." Rei took a deep breath. Apparently, it was going to take a serious talk to convince Ryoko he and the other band members were serious about their desire to include her for professional reasons. "Ryoko, we really do want you in the band. We think you're a great guitarist, and we want you to contribute. Besides your playing, your looks and the novelty of having an infamous space-pirate in the group will contribute to the band's appeal. Rock bands are historically known for being rebellious. You fit in perfectly. With you in the band, we can be a success! Hell! We might even get rich!"

Ryoko kept her face averted, choosing instead to examine Rei's black leather cowboy boots.

"Swear."

"Huh?"

"Swear that you're only interested in my guitar skills."

"I would, but that isn't the truth."

"Then, I have to say no."

"What I mean is, we want you for what you can contribute to the band, professionally. That includes your reputation and looks. We're interested in you for professional reasons."

Remembering when people used to flee from her because of her looks, Ryoko cracked a rye grin.

"You know, people used to be scared of me because of how I look."

Rei smiled at that.

"I can't imagine why."

"Are you being sarcastic?"

"No."

Ryoko risked a look at his face. She noted he had hazel eyes before looking away again, blushing. Quickly, she snatched the leather outfit out of his hand. Turning around, Ryoko floated back inside, leaving Rei on the front steps.

"You comin' in, or what?"

"Right behind you."

Stopping at the foot of the stairs, Ryoko turned around again.

"Hold it."

Rei stopped in mid-stride.

"What?"

"You wait there. I'll go upstairs and change."

"Sure." Rei nodded in agreement.

Ryoko teleported up to her room where she would be out of sight while changing. She was getting a serious feeling of deja vous about this whole thing. At least this time she knew what precautions to take. Stripping off her tiger-striped top and skirt, she stepped into the leather pants. They were of the super low-rise variety and showed a great deal of tummy. But the fit was just about right. The second part was a simple leather halter top split in the middle to show a generous amount of cleavage. Looking in the mirror, Ryoko had to admit it looked pretty good on her, although a belt with some sort of silver metal attachments was needed to finish the look, and to provide a little extra insurance against the low-rise pants slipping off of her hips.

"Does it fit?" Rei called from the downstairs foyer.

"Yeah."

Long pause.

"Can I see?"

Ryoko teleported half-way down the stairs and set her feet on the floor so that she would be standing normally. She said nothing, only watching how Rei stared at her. And stare he did, too. She recognized that kind of look. He obviously greatly appreciated what this outfit did for her.

"Turn around."

Ryoko did as he requested, turning slowly around in a circle. When she came back around, she found that Rei was smiling broadly.

"You look..."

"What?"

"It looks great on you."

"That so?"

Rei nodded politely. "You'll have fans pounding on the dressing room door for your autograph."

Ryoko spent a moment thinking about how it might feel to actually be popular. The idea appealed to her ego.

"Well, I guess I can wear this, then. But only for performances. Speaking of which, when do we start performing for real?"

Rei laughed.

"As soon as we learn some more rock tunes. Say, you've been around. You must know some rare songs."

"Hmm..." Ryoko thought about what kind of songs she knew how to play. Honestly, her repertoire was not very extensive. However, Tenchi, being from an isolated planet, might be able to help with some rare and unheard of rock songs. "I just might."

* * *

Aeka stood on the sidewalk outside of the popular restaurant in which Sasami and Shuzan were currently imbibing root-beer floats. Her only protection from discovery was her clown disguise. A hand-cranked music box hung suspended from her neck by a multi-colored strap while Ryo-o-ki danced and did tricks at her feet. To either side, the two guardians were disguised as mafioso bodyguards, complete with pin-striped suits.

"Who's idea was this again?"

"It was mine." Azaka proudly claimed. "Data indicates that traveling performers often frequent this part of town seeking donations."

"But a clown and performing monkey with accompanying bodyguards? This is so embarrassing."

Actually, they were making a significant sum of change with Ryo-o-ki's performance. The small animal was quite skilled. Aeka's huge red hair, massive flipper-like shoes, and giant blinking red nose may also have something to do with it.

Inside the old-style fountain restaurant, Shuzan looked out the window at the strange clown and her weird companions.

"Sasami, I don't mean to be rude, but why is your sister following us around town wearing a clown costume? And that nose..."

Sasami sighed for what seemed like the thousandth time. Aeka was really beginning to embarrass her with this little act.

"I really don't know."

"I didn't do something to offend her, did I?"

"Of course not. You've been a perfect gentleman."

"I try."

Sasami smiled as she joined Shuzan in staring out of the window at her silly older sister.

"At least she's doing something useful."

"Is that useful?" Shuzan asked looking at her.

"It's much more useful than what she normally does."

Shuzan wisely stayed silent on that. It would not do to call Sasami's sister lazy, even if she thought it was so. However, after few uncomfortable seconds, Sasami broke out into a fit of giggling.

"I'm just kidding!"

Shuzan heaved a huge sigh of relief as Sasami explained.

"When we were staying at Tenchi's house in Okayama, Aeka always helped with the housework, even though she hated it."

"What was it like, so far away from Jurai? It's hard for me to imagine living like that, without any servants or hover-cars."

"It's not so bad. It wasn't like we had no water or power. But getting around was much harder. All they have is liquid fuel ground cars and airplanes."

"They rely on internal combustion engines?!"

"Yup."

"I saw one in a museum, once. It horrified me to read all the pollutants that those things put out."

"I know. Washu offered to make us an ultra-efficient fusion powered car, once."

"Washu Hakubi? The famous professor?"

"That's her."

"You know so many interesting people."

"I'm sure you know plenty of interesting people."

"Not really." Shuzan blushed a bit. "Just you."

Sasami blushed a lot.

"Well, your uncle is head of House Amaki. He must be an interesting person."

"I wouldn't know."

"How come?"

"I rarely see him. Lord Shusan is always off doing diplomatic things. I had my brother for company until he came of age. Then Uncle started sending him on diplomatic missions, and all I had was the family's staff and servants. I trained in the arts and studied diplomacy and economics like my uncle wanted me to. But... that stuff is so boring. You're very fortunate to have a sister who takes you on adventures."

Sasami stared at Shuzan's face. She could see the loneliness in his eyes. Slowly, while he wasn't looking, she reached across the table and took his hand.

"If you ever get lonely, all you have to do is come over to my house. It's always an adventure there."

Shuzan looked at Sasami and smiled.

"Thanks."

Suddenly, a large shadow loomed over the young couple, disturbing the shared moment of tranquil fondness. They looked up and saw a young woman in the uniform an upperclassman of their private school. The four stripes on the collar of her white long-sleeve shirt indicated that she was in the senior class. Shuzan groaned at the sight of her.

"So this is where you've gotten off to." The woman looked down her nose at them.

Sasami stared at the woman. She was very rude to interrupt a private meeting, even if she was a senior in their school. However, since Sasami was not wearing her own school uniform, it was unlikely this woman knew she was a student.

"Is there something wrong?"

The woman barely even looked at Sasami. She reserved her most ferocious glaring for Shuzan.

"My little ward keeps running off without permission. How very irksome. Come along, Shuzan." The lady reached right out, grabbed Shuzan by the arm, and tried to physically drag him from his seat. Sasami watched aghast as Shuzan said nothing to oppose the older student. But his face was screwed up tight with indignance. Shuzan was Sasami's very good friend, as well as distant family. Her Jurai upbringing came forth quickly.

"You let Shuzan go!"

The woman stopped pulling on Shuzan, and turned to look at Sasami.

"Are you talking to me, little girl?"

"Yes, I am. Shuzan and I are out on a date and we wish to be alone. So, please leave."

Shuzan looked right at Sasami when he heard her proclaim that they were on a date. His cheeks colored a very pretty shade of crimson.

"How cute." The woman remarked with a smirk before turning the full force of her intense scrutiny on Sasami. "However, you must be aware that school codes forbid high-school and middle-school students from dating, Miss Sasami Masaki."

Hearing the senior say her name without having been introduced made Sasami think that she may have just jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.

"Um, well..."

"Oh, yes. I know who you are. But you obviously don't know me. I am Kassandura Donhower, Senior Classwoman and head of the school's Student Disciplinary Board. Oh, and I am also little Shuzan's student sponsor. Besides being very disrespectful, you're breaking an important school code. It is my duty to report this transgression and take steps to ensure it doesn't happen again."

"That won't be necessary." Shuzan said, trying to keep Sasami from getting in trouble. "It wasn't really a date. Sasami was just showing me around."

Sasami felt a bit injured hearing Shuzan say that they were not in fact on a date.

"Ah. Then you won't mind coming along quietly."

"Yes, Sempai." Shuzan dutifully obeyed.

Kassandura looked down her nose at Shuzan as he clambered out of the booth he and Sasami were sitting in. Once he had his feet on the floor and was heading for the door, Kassandura turned her back on Sasami to follow him out.

"Troublesome boy." Kassandura griped out loud. "Why must I be burdened with such a disreputable lout?"

Sasami overheard the comment. A rush of anger at the mistreatment suddenly shot through her body. Without thinking, she grabbed her half-full ice-cream float glass and threw it across the room. Vanilla ice-cream and root-beer splattered all over as it spun through the air and smashed against the far wall, missing the back of Kassandura's head by a very slim margin.

"My, how childish." Kassandura turned back around to see Sasami standing up, her fists in balls and her face scrunched-up with anger.

"You take that back!"

"Excuse me? Did you say something, little girl?"

"Yes, I did!" Sasami angrily replied as she marched forward to stand toe-to-toe with the older student. "Shuzan is the nicest, most mature, and well-respected person I have ever known! Well, maybe except for Tenchi. The only troublesome, disreputable, lout around here is you!"

Kassandura slapped Sasami so hard she left a visible hand print on the girl's face.

"How dare you say such vile and contemptible things about me in public! I'll have you know --"

The entrance doors swung open so hard they slammed against the walls, shattering the glass panes. Glass rained down on the black and white checkerboard faux-linoleum floor. Everyone looked to see a clown with fire in her eyes.

"You wretched monster!" The clown stomped across the floor, her super-sized clown shoes slapping with every step. "How dare you strike a child? You must be punished for your insolence!"

Kassandura stared at the strange sight of a clown that was actually yelling and ranting in public.

"Is that so? And just who are you supposed to be?"

The clown straightened up considerably.

"I am Aeka Masaki Jurai, First Princess of the Jurai Royal Family. The punishment for your actions is fifty lashes! Ten for each finger you have raised against my sister!"

Every occupant of the ice-cream shop burst out laughing.

"Wha!? Why are you laughing at me?"

"Jurai Royal Family? Are you certain?"

"Well of course I'm certain!"

"I'm so sorry, Princess. I mistook you for Bozo the Clown!"

"Bozo the...!" Then Aeka remembered the disguise. She grew so angry that her giant red nose began blinking at a much faster pace. "I'll show you who's a bozo!"

"Aeka, stop it!"

Everyone quieted when Sasami yelled at her sister.

"But, Sasami!"

"Miss Kassandura is right. I was rude and disrespectful. So, I deserved to be slapped."

"Oh, so you're apologizing, then?"

Sasami glared at Kassandura.

"No. I meant every word."

The upperclasswoman gnashed her teeth in annoyance.

"Fine. Expect to receive your punishment first thing tomorrow morning." Kassandura turned towards the door to leave with Shuzan still in her clutches.

"I think not." Aeka said in a much calmer voice, stepping between Kassandura and her escape route.

"And just what are you going to do about it?"

"You seem quite knowledgeable about school rules and regulations."

"Of course." Kassandura flipped her shoulder length hair back. "I am head of the Student Disciplinary Board, after all."

"Then you must be aware that striking another student is a serious violation of your school's rules."

Kassandura flinched at that. However, she had an out.

"The girl was quite rude. When words become insufficient to maintain discipline, corporal punishment may be used."

"But only in the presence of two witnesses."

"And I have several!" The senior student gestured towards those who were watching the events unfold.

"Ah, but the witnesses must be school staff members." Aeka leaned right in Kassandura's face. "Teachers!" Aeka pulled back. "In addition, corporal punishment may only be administered by staff. You are obviously a violent and temperamental person unsuited for your position. In the interest of the student body, I must report your grossly negligent actions to the Headmaster."

"Professor Washu? Hakubi Washu? Headmistress Washu?"

"Yes, indeed. It just so happens that we reside together."

Kassandura's jaw dropped.

"That... isn't really necessary. Is it?"

"Well, perhaps if you apologize to Sasami..."

"Me? Apologize to a middle school student?" Kassandura looked at Sasami, who was still glaring at her. She turned her nose up in disgust. "I think not."

"Very well. Since expulsion doesn't seem to concern you... Azaka! Kamidake!"

The two mafioso guardians phased through the restaurant walls, solidifying at Aeka's side.

"Yes, Princess."

"If this woman does not apologize for her actions within ten seconds, she is to be stripped naked in the street and given fifty lashes."

"Understood!" The guardians deployed their frontal armor, revealing four mechanical manipulator arms each, as well as a large assortment of laser cannons, particle beam emitters, sub-machine guns, and large-caliber semi-automatic pistols. In addition, Azaka held a block and tackle with two of his claw-like manipulators, while the third clenched a set of brass knuckles, and the fourth held a billy-club. Kamidake also deployed four arms. One held a switch-blade knife, another a pair of scissors, the third held a small spinning circular saw, and the forth clutched a whip, which he snapped back and forth menacingly.

Seeing that the princess and her guardians meant business, Kassandura quickly turned to Sasami and bowed.

"I'm very very sorry for slapping you, Princess. Please accept my most humble apologies."

Although she was still pissed off at the woman and really did not want to accept her apology, Sasami knew it wasn't beyond Aeka to cause this high-school senior some serious difficulties, although she was most likely bluffing about the whipping. Either way, if Sasami did not accept the apology, Aeka would have to make good on her threat. That could cause serious trouble for herself and Shuzan that Sasami did not want to have to deal with.

"Apology accepted."

Kassandura straightened. Forgetting about Shuzan in her haste to escape, she brushed past Aeka and went for the door. On the way out, she made the mistake of looking back through the broken doors. Aeka stamped her foot, sending the woman scurrying away. Some bets were grudgingly exchanged among the crowd, and everyone settled down to finish their ice cream and talk amongst themselves about the incident. Finally relieved of his overbearing student sponsor, Shuzan smiled broadly.

"That was great! I can't tell you how much of a pain Kassandura has been for me. Thank you both."

Sasami remained rather distant in demeanor, simply standing there.

"Your welcome, I guess."

"Sasami? Is something wrong?"

"I'm sorry about what I said. I guess it was pretty presumptuous of me to say we were... on a date."

"Oh." Shuzan realized that perhaps Sasami actually liked him and wanted the outing to be a date. As he looked at her shy expression, he found his affection for this cute and spunky little princess growing by the moment.

"Well... I guess it can be a date. That is... if you want it to be."

Sasami looked up at him with a joyful smile.

"Um, excuse me." Aeka interrupted. Sasami promptly gave her a very threatening glare that made it crystal clear that, while she appreciated Aeka's assistance earlier, her did not require her sister's input on this matter. Aeka quickly rethought what she was going to say. Sighing, she decided this was not a battle she could win. Besides, who was she to say anything about relationships.

"Lord Shuzan, whatever happens, do NOT go chasing after any space-pirates. Am I clear?"

Shuzan looked at the elder princess, not understanding what she meant by that. However, since he did not know the full story about the Crown Prince Yosho's flight from Jurai, he found it an easy condition to agree to. Sasami on the other hand, knew exactly what Aeka meant. She relaxed visibly as Shuzan answered.

"Absolutely I will not."

* * *

Kassandura ran for her life. She ran herself ragged to escape from the terror that was Aeka. Not until she returned to her apartment and blockaded the door with every piece of furniture in her possession could she even begin to think about revenge. And revenge there would be. No one embarrasses Killer Kassandura and gets away with it. Not even the First Princess of Jurai.

END.

* * *

AFTERWORD: Some readers may be thinking that this chapter has some similarities to volume 2, with a new character interested in Ryoko. Rest assured I do not intend nor will I attempt a repeat of volume 2. Ryoko finally has a direction to go, even if she is somewhat, ah... delinquent (as Washu puts it) in her studies. 


	24. Just Desserts

**INVASION, Volume 3, Part 8: Just Desserts.**

DISCLAIMER: Tenchi Muyo! is copyright AIC/Pioneer, LDC, inc. I claim no rights to it. However, the events in this story are entirely of my own imagination.

FOREWORD: I put this chapter together from a group of very short stories describing the characters thoughts and feelings right before the wedding. I didn't want to cut those stories out, but in order to keep the plot flowing, I did have to cut one scene with Mihoshi that required her to be in the same place as the rest of the group well before the wedding. Perhaps I'll post it as a short story.

After posting the last chapter, I received a well-written review that I wish to respond to. Unfortunately, the review was submitted anonymously. So I must respond here, rather than privately.

Regarding Airi, this story (Invasion) is written with no regard to Tenchi Muyo GXP. I began writing this long before GXP came out, and trying to fit that continuity into this story-arc would prove problematic at best. Therefore, I will not attempt to merge that story with this one. However, I have used some of that material for reference purposes.

In GXP Airi appears to be a part of the GP academy staff. Her place in the academy upper echelon is certain, but her exact position is never really specified. One might also note that Tenchi Muyo GXP deals solely with the Galaxy Police Academy, foregoing any mention of the rest of the Galaxy Academy, where Washu, Doctor Clay, Airi, and Yosho all attended at various times. In GXP, only two things tie the two academies together: the presence of Airi, and the mention of Washu's Pore, a hole in the crust of the planet created by Washu during one of her experiments. At the least, we can be certain that the GP Academy and the Galaxy Academy are co-located on the same planet. However, the lack of significant Galaxy Academy personnel presence might indicate that the two are administered at least semi-independently, if not totally separately.

Having established the background reference material that I have chosen to use, I can say that Airi's inclusion in this story was an after-thought to add more flavor and credibility. Since my story deals more with the scholarly aspects of the Galaxy Academy, rather than the Galaxy Police Academy, I intentionally chose to alter her position from a GP-related position to Galaxy Academy Director/Headmaster.

The review also covered some older material, focusing on Interlude One, Christmas Eve. I believe the question was how could the robotic terrorists have known Tenchi was in the hotel, and why did I continue to write the story from his point of view after he was replaced?

I think this is a good example of the evolution of a writer. In retrospect, I think I should have ceased giving the story from Tenchi's point of view and kept it so until the real Tenchi was recovered.

As for the terrorists' knowledge of Tenchi's presence beforehand, I really had not given it enough thought at the time. Being able to replace him with a robotic version implies a level of planning that requires foreknowledge of Ryoko's plan to take him to that specific location. Looking back, I probably could have included mention of a shady person tailing them unnoticed as they went around town, and that would have made the event more believable. Or, perhaps the robots were using a form of holographic projection that only made them appear human. We've seen this sort of thing before in GXP and or other sci-fi stories. Such a disguise could easily be altered to imitate Tenchi, or any other person.

I think that as I write more, mistakes like this have become fewer and farther between. I look forward to more well thought and helpful reviews, anonymous or otherwise. Although, without a return email address, I can't send a reply!

AUTHOR: Dreamr

LAST REVISION: 01 April 2005

EMAIL: stood before a full-length mirror in the room assigned to him for preparations before the wedding ceremony, checking his appearance for what seemed like the umpteen-millionth time. His bowtie was straight. His cummerbund was tight. His jacket was buttoned. His stomach was turning cart-wheels. Everything was exactly as he had envisioned it, except for his bride.

Today he would marry not one, but two beautiful young women. Only circumstances beyond his control enabled this. In a way, he was glad. Both women had come to him literally out of the blue. Although Tenchi had not expected choosing a life's mate would be easy, neither had he expected it to turn out like this.

Looking into the mirror, Tenchi wondered what his mother would think of it.

Alone in a side hallway, Mihoshi peeked through a side door keyhole into the reception hall at the assembling guests. The most powerful royalty, politicians, and government officials from across the galaxy were beginning to crowd into the huge enclosure. Most of her own family were among them. She knew she should go say hello. She hadn't seen them in years. But her heart just was not in it.

Mihoshi was happy for her friends, of course. It was only natural that they should be married. It had always seemed to her that Ryoko and Aeka's feelings for Tenchi always far outstripped her own. She had held back for fear of hurting them or Tenchi. Those two girls were women enough for any two men. Tenchi was truly brave to marry both of them; brave and gallant. But that still did not change how she felt for him.

Just back from patrol, Mihoshi took out her pen to write yet another maintenance repair request for her shuttle. Without Washu around she had to use the normal maintenance request channels for repairs. But as she entered the house still dripping wet from her usual bad-piloting-induced dunking, she noticed that Nobuyuki and Katsuhito were both in the main room with several open bottles of sake and various expended party poppers (those noisy little devices that sprayed paper confetti everywhere when you pulled the string) strewn all over the room. Mihoshi looked about in wonder at the festive scene.

"Are we having a party?"

Nobuyuki rushed up to Mihoshi and clapped her on the shoulders.

"Yes! We're having a giant party! He's finally done it! My boy..." The man clamped down on his lower lip to keep his tears of joy from falling too freely. "My boy's getting married!"

Mihoshi smiled with delight at the news.

"That's wonderful, Mister Masaki! Um..." Then she remembered that Nobuyuki's boy was Tenchi. The meaning of this announcement slowly sank in. Tenchi was getting married. Since this was the first she knew of it, that meant he had chosen someone else. Mihoshi's private little dream of a happy life as Tenchi's wife came to an abrupt end.

"That's... wonderful news. I'm very happy for you and your family. Please excuse me while I get cleaned-up." Mihoshi bowed politely then hurried out of the room before the overwhelming sense of loss took complete control of her. Dropping her pen and paper as she ascended the hallway stairs, Mihoshi took out her cube. She twisted it one way and then another, unsure of exactly what she was trying to do. This cube had lots and lots of functions. Surely there was some function built in to it that would make her feel better.

"Why won't it work?" She whispered under her breath. "Why can't I make it work?"

Nobuyuki peeked around the corner to see after Mihoshi, who had quite quickly left at hearing the good news.

"Eh, Miss Mihoshi?"

Mihoshi ignored the messenger of bad fate in favor of finding some answers from her cube, which unfortunately, was not cooperating.

"Why doesn't it work?"

A pot of hot coffee materialized in mid-air, only to come crashing down to the floor in a massive explosion of hot liquid and shattering ceramic.

"No, that's not it."

"Miss Mihoshi?"

With a dissatisfied growl, Mihoshi gave the cube a particularly savage twist. This time, she got a pot of tea to materialize with the same resultant explosion.

"That's not what I want!"

"Miss Mihoshi."

Mihoshi suddenly realized that she was being addressed. Not wanting to be rude, she turned around revealing her unshed tears.

"I'm sorry. I know I'm supposed to be happy, but... well, I was kind of hoping..." Mihoshi couldn't finish. She didn't want to say out loud how she felt. It was such an embarrassing matter for public conversation.

Seeing that he had upset Mihoshi with such a forward proclamation of Tenchi's impending marriage, Nobuyuki climbed the two stairs separating them and took her hands in his, causing Mihoshi to blush.

"Sorry. I, eh, didn't mean to throw it in your face like that. But, he's my boy, you know? I can't help being happy for him."

"I understand."

"Ahem." Katsuhito came around the corner with sake in hand, clearing his throat. "Miss Mihoshi, if marriage is something you are considering, I could arrange for you to meet some eligible bachelors. Of course, you already know Nobuyuki."

Mihoshi's face turned beet-red as she pulled her hands from Nobuyuki's in order to cover her face.

"Oh, no! You don't have to do that!"

Scratching at the back of his head, Nobuyuki laughed out loud. But as he did, Mihoshi noticed how much alike he and Tenchi acted. It didn't take a GP Detective First-Class to see from where Tenchi got his mannerisms.

Peering into the immense room, Mihoshi decided to wait until after the private ceremony to join the guests. The reception was scheduled to happen afterwards so that the drinking wouldn't interfere with the ceremony. Ryoko and Aeka would probably try to sing karaoke again. For the time being, no one would question her absence since she and Sasami were supposed to be preparing for the ceremony. She would just sit in the anter-room with Sasami and Ryo-oh-ki waiting for the ceremony to begin. She said a silent prayer in hopes that she wouldn't pull an Aeka and run out of the room crying.

Sasami was fussing over Ryo-chan's dress when Mihoshi returned from her walk. The normally bubbly blonde sat quietly in a chair to wait for the ceremony. She said nothing of going to see her family. In fact, she said nothing at all.

Sasami felt certain that Mihoshi was feeling blue because she was not marrying Tenchi along with Ryoko and Aeka. Sasami herself sometimes felt a twinge of similar regret. But marriage was still years away for her. What was more, she had met someone her own age that she felt close to. It was so odd. Sometimes Sasami felt like she was watching her own growth through another set of eyes. She attributed it to Tsunami's influence and presence.

Sometimes, when her mind drifted, Sasami found herself seeing things that she could not possibly be seeing. Places very distant came to mind, or people who didn't even exist as far as she knew. It was worse at night when she slept. Sasami almost always kept her dreams to herself. She didn't put much faith in random images. But when the subject of her dream or vision happened to be her friends or herself, it was difficult to pull her attention away. Once, she had even dreamed of her wedding night with Tenchi. She still couldn't decide if that had been a true Tsunami-granted vision or just a hormone induced fantasy dream.

When her dreams or visions were about adult subjects of any kind, it always made Sasami feel like she was in too much of a hurry to grow-up. She felt like someone was rushing her. It was silly of course. She would grow into an adult at whatever pace her body decided and no sooner. But sometimes she just felt like things were moving at the wrong pace.

In two months time, Sasami would have her thirteenth birthday. Although she and Aeka had been born over seven hundred years ago, they had both been in suspended animation for most of that time while Ryu-o cruised the galaxy searching for their brother Yosho. A special dispensation had been granted them both regarding the legalities of a seven hundred year-old princess with the body of an eight-year-old, or in Aeka's case, a nineteen-year-old.

In two months time, on her birthday, Sasami would be granted the right to take her hair down an wear it as a noblewoman of the royal family. Although it was only a traditional gesture nowadays, the gesture still held a great deal of symbolic significance. It would indicate that she was of sufficient age to be courted. But courtship brought its own difficulties.

Grudgingly, Sasami had stopped objecting when Ryoko teased her about her relationship with Shuzan, which was public knowledge. They went out frequently and were often seen together in public. Rumors were beginning to circulate about them. Jurai nobles abounded at the Galaxy Academy. Rich and powerful families from across the galaxy sent their progeny here to get a proper education. With her hair up, signifying that she was not yet of sufficient age, those nobles often frowned or made faces of disgust when they saw her and Shuzan out together. While it wasn't illegal, it was regarded as somewhat perverse for a young man of high standing to be taking such a strong interest in a girl, as she currently appeared.

However, once Sasami appeared in public as an eligible young lady of the court, suitors of sufficient standing would have the right to challenge Shuzan to a duel for her favor. He could refuse, but it would make him appear as a coward and weakling, thereby embarrassing his family and hurting his chances to actually be selected by her father to one day become her husband. Even worse, the duels, although not to the death, could sometimes get ugly, especially if the combatants held a particularly strong dislike for one another. Sasami hated to think what would happen if Shuzan were to be defeated in a duel. He was still relatively young compared to some of the young men whom she had seen looking at her with more than just casual interest.

With a sigh, Sasami stood up straight. With increased age came increased height. She had to squat now in order to straighten up Ryo-chan's dress. Her growing height and lengthening limbs sometimes made her feel like an strange weed that had suddenly sprouted up in Aeka's garden. She was getting so tall now that she had to look almost straight down at Ryo-chan if she stood too close. Of course, every time she looked straight down, Sasami was also reminded of the significant growth of her chest area. Growing up seemed to include growing out. Sasami idly wondered if Shuzan liked how she was filling out.

"Mya?"

Sasami's eyes refocused on Ryo-chan. She blushed when she realized that she had been caught staring at her own breasts, as insignificant as they still were.

"Sorry. Where were we, hm?"

Ryo-chan held up both of her hands, palms out, indicating that she wanted to play patty-cake. Sasami smiled as she knelt on the floor, careful to lift her dress so as not to damage it. She wanted it to be in perfect shape for when she saw Shuzan during the reception. Maybe he would even ask her to dance again.

Even though there was no external force in the universe that could make her vomit, the soon-to-be second wife of Prince Tenchi Masaki Jurai felt like she was going to hurl. It was not due to pregnancy, either. Washu had assured her that that would not happen unless she absolutely decided she wanted it. Even then, it took the cooperation of a healthy male. The cause was obvious. She was nervous.

Never had Ryoko imagined she would do such a thing. It was more suited to Aeka's temperament. In fact, the whole thing had been her idea to begin with. Aeka had even asked her for her permission. In the process, she had given Ryoko the power to control their destinies.

In the end, it was the baby that had swayed her. She could have held out for anything she wanted; money, power, all was within her reach. Aeka would probably have given her anything she asked. But all she could think of was how a baby deserved to have both its parents. So she had said yes.

Tenchi had shocked her into silence by insisting that he would marry Aeka only if she would marry him as well. He had asked, so she said yes again. The thought of it never failed to send a chill up her spine and a blush to her face.

"Would you like something to warm your feet?"

The sound of Seto Kamiki's voice sent a chill of a different kind up Ryoko's backbone. Something about that woman always gave her the creeps.

"Nope. I just don't see why I have to go through with this when everybody already knows Tenchi and I love each other."

"Ohh. I see." Seto's grin grew wider as she peered over Ryoko's shoulder. "That's quite the dress."

Ryoko took a look at herself to confirm what she already knew. If she were to become a member of the Royal Family of Jurai, she was as sure as Hell going to look the part.

At first, Ryoko felt reluctant to get involved in having her wedding dress made. She looked through hundreds of magazines and catalogs, hoping to find a dress that matched her tastes. Being the unique person that she was, nothing looked right. After some prodding from Aeka and the other girls, she finally agreed to have a dress made from scratch.

The first step was to select a material, which, coincidentally, was the step that sold her on the project. After looking at roll after roll of the exotic materials available at various tailors and cloth suppliers, Ryoko's eyes were caught by a particularly beautiful roll of white with a rare opalescent quality that caused it to iridesce depending on what angle the light struck it. Ryoko walked all around the lone bolt, quietly admiring its opalescent qualities. She ran a finger along the length of the material. It was incredibly smooth.

"This one."

Aeka joined her by the bolt.

"My isn't this --" Aeka's eyes bulged when she saw the price tag.

Ryoko flashed a toothy grin as she completed the flabbergasted princess's sentence. "Perfect?"

"Expensive." Aeka whispered under her breath. However, seeing Ryoko standing behind the bolt, she had to agree. Just the sight of the two in the same place nearly took her breath away. But the price was astronomical even for royalty.

"Well?" Ryoko prompted her.

"Can't you just pick an appropriate wedding kimono like the rest of us?"

"I could." Ryoko mused with a finger on her chin in a thoughtful pose. "But then I would look just like everyone else."

Grimacing as she checked the price again just to be certain she hadn't misread it, Aeka spoke to Ryoko under her breath so that the merchant wouldn't hear.

"People have paid less for entire planets!"

Ryoko nodded in approval at the ego boost she was experiencing.

"Really? Well, then. Only the best for a future queen."

Aeka sighed aloud as the image of Ryoko with a crown came to mind.

"Tsunami protect us."

Ryoko looked out across the landscape, surveying all that was in sight in an attempt to keep the king-sized butterflies that were fluttering around in her stomach from affecting her voice.

"Of course it's fancy. I'm getting married. A girl doesn't do that every day, you know."

"I suppose not."

The sound of an explosion suddenly drew their attention to one of the nearby circular landing pads. A boiling cloud of smoke and fire rose upwards from a hail of metal, plastic, and wood. The guards, having military training, hit the deck avoiding most of the deadly projectiles. Those without the benefit of training, such as the little girl and her parents that had just disembarked from the ruined craft, were not so lucky. The parents had the presence of mind to shield their daughter from the flying debris, thus protecting her from direct harm. However, the force of the explosion was strong enough to blow them off the platform. The ground was not far, but it was far enough that their survival was in doubt.

A slight pop sound told Seto that Ryoko had just disappeared. A fraction of a second later, she reappeared directly underneath the falling people.

Ryoko reached out with both hands for the falling parents as the girl thudded onto her shoulder. She promptly latched on to Ryoko and started screaming bloody murder. Her savior grasped at the adults' clothes as they fell. Her hands entangled themselves in cloth. For a moment, she had them. Then buttons popped and cloth tore. The two people fell away, leaving Ryoko with a white Jurai Royal Navy coat in one hand and a matching white blouse in the other. Dropping the clothes and silently cursing her partial failure, Ryoko put her arms around the little girl and slowly floated up to the landing pad, where survivors were just beginning to take stock of the situation. As she stepped down onto the pad, the child's screaming slowed to crying. But she refused to let go, even when Ryoko tried prying her arms off. Now she knew how Tenchi felt.

"Come on, kid, leggo."

Armed soldiers began streaming from the landing pad doors. These were not the usual staff carrying honor guards, but heavily armed and armored foot soldiers. Most of them took positions around the perimeter of the pad, while those with medical training began to offer assistance to the injured. About a quarter of the guards, including the one apparently in charge, surrounded Ryoko and leveled energy weapons at her. An angry growl began to rattle in her throat. She had just saved this girl's life and this was the thanks she was getting?

"Let the girl go, demon!"

Ryoko was just about to tell the man exactly where he could go, when all the soldiers weapons suddenly leapt out of their hands and flew over the side of the platform. The explanation appeared in front of Ryoko in the form of Lady Seto.

"The next person who levels so much as a frown at this woman will answer to me."

The platoon sergeant had something to say about that.

"M'Lady..."

"SILENCE!" Seto strode directly in front of the soldier and gave him her iciest stare. "You have disgraced all of Jurai by threatening a guest of the Royal Family. You will report yourself to the Captain of the Guard for disciplinary action, at once!"

Seto was so close she could hear the man's teeth gnashing with frustration. He apparently did not appreciate his new assignment. He stepped back and made his salute before turning away to report to the afore mentioned official.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Who's next in command?"

Another sergeant stepped forward.

"Ma'am!"

"Assist your comrades in the rescue effort."

"Yes, ma'am!" The newly promoted platoon sergeant began barking out orders, sending his charges running across the platform.

"You gonna have him executed?"

"Hmm?" Seto returned her attention to Ryoko. "Oh, goodness, no. I don't have that kind of authority. They only think I do."

Ryoko's jaw dropped.

"I want my mommy and daddy."

"Huh?" Ryoko's eyes glanced towards the little girl she was holding. "Oh. Um... Uh... Nnn... This sucks!"

She quickly closed the distance to Seto and, finally prying the girl's arms from around her neck, she held her out.

"You tell her."

Seto and the girl stared at each other for a moment.

"Tell her what?"

"About her parents!"

"What about them?"

"Hello! They just got blown off the platform! Unless they can fly, they're splattered all over the ground."

The little girl promptly began crying again when she heard Ryoko say that her parents were dead. With a very cross expression, Seto reached out and took the child away from Ryoko.

"How can you say such a thing! Every raised platform around the port is protected by an energy net. They're perfectly fine." Turning away from Ryoko, Seto tried to comfort the child. "There, there. Don't listen to the silly girl. Your parents are fine, I promise."

Ryoko stood there gaping.

"No one told me..." Taking advantage of not having to tend to the girl's plight, Ryoko meekly floated away, hoping no one would notice.

"Miss Ryoko?"

Ryoko paused at Seto's call.

"It's the thought that counts."

Without response, Ryoko resumed her course, but with a little more zip to her flight.

"I want my mommy and daddy!" The girl in Seto's arms cried again.

"Of course you do, dear."

Seto sighed wistfully at the thought of holding a baby again. Hopefully, there would be no further incidents. Certain precautions had been taken in preparation for having so many of the royal family in one place at the same time. One of those precautions was to change the shuttle arrangements at the last minute. The shuttle that had exploded was supposed to have been carrying Aeka. However, even that information was a closely guarded secret. Anyone who had discovered the arrangements could also have discovered the change, or at least anticipate it. Considering the implications, Seto decided it might be prudent to check on the First Princess.

Despite her short stature, The number one genius scientist in the universe was walking tall. She had truly done it. Her grand experiment was a success; well, mostly. Even through Kagato's physical and psychological torture, Ryoko's basic behavior algorithms had remained intact. Once freed of his twisted influence, she had reverted to the kind of behavior one would expect of a class C3 super-powered being.

Ryoko was unconcerned with the mundane aspects of normal life simply due to the fact that she had no such needs. Hence her lack of interest in such things as housework. Her health and welfare had nothing to do with her environment, with only the exceptions of physical danger and the need to interact with others. Therein lay her only true weakness. Because Ryoko had no other needs, her drive to fulfill that one singular need was paramount in her psyche. Unfortunately, the additional programming Kagato had introduced into her had caused her to interact in a very violent way. Washu had learned from rummaging around in Ryoko's memories that she had taken every opportunity to interact with people and learn about their behavior patterns. As cruel as it sounded, Washu was glad Yosho had stuck Ryoko in that cave for seven hundred years. Separated from Kagato's control and influence, she slowly reverted back to her natural patterns. Of course, it was not easy setting aside thousands of years of learned behavior.

Then came Tenchi. A young boy with few friends, he had spent an inordinate amount of time around Ryoko's cave, simply being a boy. Discorporate, and unable to truly interact, Ryoko had observed him. For sixteen years, Tenchi was all she had. His comings and goings began to evoke powerful feelings from within her. After years of silent observation, he finally freed her. They got off to a rocky start. But things had worked out in the end.

Washu walked around with the biggest, proudest smile anyone had ever seen. Her Ryoko, the labor of love she had created with full intent and desire, rather than by the accident of hopeful timing, was getting married. Unable to contain herself, she broke out in another fit of joyful giggles.

Cheerfully winding her way through the growing throng of well-wishers, Washu noticed a sudden increase in volume from the entryway. Unfortunately, her short stature prevented her from seeing what was going on. Without a second thought, she jumped up on a large table so that she could see what was going on. The two young ladies talking at the table looked up at her in shock.

Looking around the spacious room, Washu noticed that the number of Royal Guards in the room was now twice what it had been earlier. Very suspicious. She also saw Airi leaving with one of the guards. Airi's daughter, Minaho, was also there, quietly trying to calm everyone. Something was definitely amiss. Washu decided that she should go check on her often troublesome daughter.

The First Princess of the Jurai stood up on a pedestal while her Chief Seamstress fawned over her wedding kimono. She would rather have been sitting in a comfortable chair, napping. Although her unborn child gave her great pride, it also gave her a sore back, swollen feet, and made her feel as if there was a lit furnace in her guts.

"Have you finished, yet?"

"A moment longer, Highness."

Aeka bore the last minute adjustments with outward stoicism. Inside, her mind was awhirl with details. Every aspect of her wedding had been attended to, she knew. The women of the Royal Family had seen to that. Still, something still felt odd. Perhaps it was due to the fact that her husband-to-be was marrying another woman simultaneously with her. Even in Jurai society, it was a little odd for a prince to marry more than one wife at a time. There was no law that forbade it, but it was odd, just the same.

What was even more odd, was that the wedding was taking place only five months after the engagement. Aeka's mind settled a bit. That was what was bothering her. Arranging a royal wedding in only five months could be a daunting task. The politicians had thrown a fit at the short notice. But, at least they had gotten more notice than the last time. A fit of laughter began to bubble up from deep within.

"Oh, ho-ho-h-OH!" A sudden crick in Aeka's back reminded her not to laugh quite so fully. "Have you finished, yet?"

"Nearly done, Highness."

After a moment of silence, Aeka realized she was needlessly pestering the poor seamstress.

"I apologize for being such a pain."

"It's an honor to have the opportunity to work on the princess's wedding kimono."

Ah, yes. Her wedding kimono. Aeka had lamented her situation when she had realized she would be unable to wear one of the beautiful kimonos that she had imagined getting married in. Fortunately, Jurai history and tradition always provided. As it turned out, Aeka was not the first princess to carry an unborn child into matrimony. There were several varieties and styles of kimono she could choose from that would conceal her condition from prying eyes. It was not that she was embarrassed, far from it. But as First Princess, she was obliged to keep up the appearance of purity, even if it was not the truth.

As it was, her brightly colored and patterned kimono hung more loosely than a normal kimono, obscuring her body from sight with many folds and layers. Frankly, she was thankful for the extra insulation. The date was very late in the year, which meant winter was upon them. The extra layers would ward off the cold. Of course, she always felt warm in Tenchi's tender embrace. Her face warmed a bit at the thought. A warm dress was nothing compared to the heat of their passion.

A sudden explosion outside rattled the balcony doors, startling the princess out of her reverie.

"What was that?"

The seamstress stood up. "A diversion."

"Excuse me?"

The seamstress thrust out a hand. Aeka gaped in complete surprise. Her own seamstress was attacking her for no discernable reason! If not for Aeka's poor position on the pedestal, she might have avoided the assault. But caught off-guard with limited foot-room she found it difficult to properly defend herself.

All it took was a small graze to activate the small black device the woman held in her hand. Aeka uttered a very brief squeak of pain as an electrical pulse surged through her body, then she fell unconscious into the woman's arms. The woman caught Aeka's limp body, bearing her weight with glee. She wanted the princess unharmed for what she had in mind. The woman set Aeka on the floor in an upright position with her knee in the princess's back. She then reached up and ripped away the annoying obscuring veil from her head.

Kassandura reached into one of the many pockets of the stolen seamstress's outfit and withdrew the pre-made letter she had drafted that would hopefully give the inevitable pursuers long enough of a pause for her to work her nefarious revenge. Kassandura dropped the note on the very pedestal the princess had occupied until a moment ago. Once this was accomplished, she slipped her arms around Aeka's chest and dragged her behind a changing screen into a corner. Pressing her toe on a very specific spot along the floor-boards caused the normal-looking wall to recede and roll back, revealing a secret passage. One good thing about the academy, as long as one had the right friends and enough money, one could always find the secrets. Procuring a copy of this building's construction blueprints had been worth the fee.

Kassandura cackled to herself as she hauled Aeka through the dark portal into the labyrinthine under-tunnels of the academy. A few dozen pictures of pregnant Princess Aeka on the StarNet would be very embarrassing for the Jurai Royal Family. It would be a cold day in Hell when someone publicly embarrassed Killer Kassandura and got away with it.

Washu made her way quickly through the long curving hallways of the rented venue to the rear of the building where the members of the wedding party were making their preparations for the ceremony. It was a simple enough layout to remember. She had taken the time earlier to evaluate the building for security before giving the building her approval.

As Headmaster of the Galaxy Academy, Washu frequently received information that the general public was not made aware. Unofficial reports and the occasional unsubstantiated account indicated that the Jurai Empire was having difficulty maintaining its borders. However, as far as she was aware, Jurai had not done anything recently that one of its neighbors might take issue with. Even if that were so, anyone who felt their grievance was sufficient to warrant military action against the Jurai Empire would quickly learn to regret it. Jurai's military power was paramount in the galaxy.

On the other hand, that did not rule out an assassination attempt on one or more of the Royal Family. Having so many of Jurai's ruling family assembled together in one place at the same time made an inviting target for foreign powers with an ax to grind.

With whatever had happened outside, everyone's attention was focused outside and away from all the really important targets within. While Washu certainly held faith in her friends' abilities, it couldn't hurt to pay them a visit. She had been planning it anyway. Washu soon came to a closed vine-door. Aeka's guardians, Azaka and Kamidake were standing guard by the door.

"Good morning." Washu smiled and waved as if nothing were amiss.

"Good morning, Professor Washu."

"It's Little Washu." The red-head's smile twisting into something a little more sinister than before.

"Please forgive us, Little Washu."

"That's better!" Washu's expression reverted back to its normal cheery fashion. "You haven't heard anything about a disturbance, have you?"

"Indeed I have." Azaka admitted. "From local transmission that I have intercepted, it seems a shuttle exploded on the spaceport shortly after arrival."

"No kidding. I don't suppose you can tell me if everyone's favorite troublemaker was on the scene?"

Although Azaka had no way to tell exactly who Washu meant by "everyone's favorite troublemaker", he calculated an eighty-seven percent probability that she meant Ryoko. However, not wanting to give the impression that he agreed with Washu's label for her daughter, correct or otherwise, he simply related what information he had available.

"The only persons of note present were Ryoko and Lady Seto."

The first name was expected to Washu. But the second caught her by surprise.

"Lady Seto?"

"And Ryoko." Kamidake clarified.

"Huh. I'd better look in on this. Thanks."

"It is a pleasure to be of assistance, Little Washu."

The vine-door parted, allowing Washu entry into the back of the building. The corridor ahead made an immediate right and then continued straight for some way. All the walls, floor, and ceiling were entirely made of wood, or at least they appeared to be made of wood. Along the center of the floor, a thin band of water could be seen flowing underneath a transparent cover that kept people from slipping or tripping as they walked over it. Curious since she could not recall this design feature in her preliminary security investigation, Washu knelt down to touch the band. As her fingers passed over it, her fingertips tingled a little, telling her it was simply a hologram designed to give the venue an appearance more aesthetically pleasing to Juraians. Satisfied, Washu stood up and went on her way.

There were a number of doors on either side of the hallway at regular intervals, all of them closed. About half-way down the corridor, Washu arrived at a large square chamber. It was basically just a square depression to each side of the hall that was big enough for a pair of doors to stand facing each other. The blank wall between each of the doors was adorned with a running fountain of water that cascaded gently along a steep, though not quite vertical, notch in the wall and into a natural-looking wood basin that appeared to have been carved into the wall. There was also a lip to the basin that allowed water to flow over the top and down the front of the basin along another notch and to the covered floor channels. The channels came together at the center of the chamber and split apart, forming a four-way intersection with two of the channels flowing away down each end of the hallway. Of course, it only appeared to be so, since it was all an illusion created by micro-gravity fields and photons. Still, it created a nice ambience that Washu thought Aeka would probably appreciate.

Of the four doors, two were shut tight, one was slightly ajar, and the other stood wide open. Through the open door Washu could see Sasami and Ryo-oh-ki playing a game of patty-cake. Sasami looked a little bored with the simple child's game, although her hands were moving very quickly.

Sasami happened to glance out the door and saw Washu watching her. Surprised, she missed the next hand movement, resulting in a loss. Ryo-chan raised her arms up in victory.

"Mya!"

"Little Washu!" Sasami stood up from her seat. "Is it time?"

Washu walked through the door to get a better view of the room. "Not just yet." Now that she was inside, Washu noticed that Mihoshi was also present, sitting quietly (much to Washu's surprise) on a small bench against the near wall. She looked rather morose, but she seemed to be holding herself together.

Before Washu could say anything more, Ryo-chan began babbling like crazy and ran over to greet her creator.

"What?" Washu asked, wondering what had Ryo-oh-oki in such a tizzy. "You want to show me something? Okay."

"No, wait!" Sasami exclaimed. But it was too late. Ryo-chan metamorphosed from a child's body to that of a teen-ager in the blink of an eye forgetting entirely about her clothes, as she often did when changing forms. While she could accommodate the extra mass of her clothing by incorporating it into her body when she changed from a larger form into a smaller one, Ryo-o-ki could not add extra mass and volume to her clothes when changing into a larger form. Thus, she usually tore the cute little dresses to tatters, or nearly suffocated within the super-tight outfit.

Washu laughed when she saw Ryo-oh-ki standing upright before her in a micro-mini-skirt and tank-top. Mihoshi giggled and the sight, while Sasami sighed.

"Ryo-chan! What if your dress gets all stretched out?"

Ryo-oh-ki turned around with a worried look on her furry face.

"Myao?"

As the girl turned, Washu noticed that she did so without so much as a wobble. Grinning knowingly, Washu decided to move things along.

"Nothing to worry about. I've got the specs on hand and I can synthesize another dress at any time. So, what do you want to show me?"

Ryo-oh-ki mewed happily, then proceeded to walk around the room unassisted, carefully avoiding any obstacles such as chairs and tables with no difficulty. When she reached Sasami, she embraced the girl in a big hug. Smiling appreciatively, both Washu and Mihoshi clapped their approval.

Excited beyond compare at all the praise, Ryo-oh-ki released Sasami and tried to spin around in a cute little pirouette. She failed spectacularly, falling hard and reverting back to a small fuzzy animal. She sat up, meowing in embarrassment as the others laughed.

Beyond the other open door, Ryoko heard the laughter coming from across the hall. She was still feeling a little shaken by the earlier events and thought some cheerful company would be nice. As she went out from her room to go see what was so funny, she nearly ran smack in Seto, who seemed to have divested herself of the child from earlier.

"You again?"

Seto ignored Ryoko in favor of checking on Aeka. But when she tried the door opposite Ryoko's, she found it to be locked. With a scowl of disapproval, she addressed herself to those within.

"Aeka, its your grandmother. Please open the door."

Lady Seto's loud announcement brought the others out from across the hall. They peeked out of the room, heads one on top of the other, to see what all the hubbub was about. When Aeka, or anyone else for that matter, failed to answer, Seto's scowl deepened.

"This won't do at all."

"Something wrong?" Ryoko asked.

For a moment, Seto just stared at the locked door. Then she put a friendly arm around Ryoko's shoulders.

"Dearest grand-daughter."

"Who?"

"Go check it out." Seto gave Ryoko a shove sending her directly at the door.

Only Ryoko's quick reflexes saved her from making a microscopic examination of the door's molecular structure. She phased through the door and entered into Aeka's preparation room. Seeing that no one was home, she decided to take a look around. Everything seemed as it should, right down to the pedestal that Aeka no doubt stood on while her servants fawned over her. Everything appeared normal except for the note on that pedestal and the large cloth veil on the floor.

Although Ryoko could not care less about the clothing, she found the note, well, noteworthy. Taking the note, she unfolded it and read what was within.

"Everyone,

"I can no longer abide the presence of the devil-woman, Ryoko. Since she refuses to leave Lord Tenchi and I alone, I have decided to leave. Make no effort to find me, for I shall never return.

"Aeka Masaki Jurai"

For a fleeting moment, Ryoko felt a horrible sense of loss and confusion. But the feeling quickly passed as common sense reasserted itself. Only a few months ago Aeka had been willing to fight to the death to have Tenchi for her husband. If Ryoko knew one thing, it was that Aeka would never just give-up like this. What Ryoko needed was someone with more intuitive power to help figure this out. Taking the note with her, Ryoko went and unlocked the door so the others could come in.

The other girls surged into the room to see for themselves what was going on. As one they all called for their missing friend.

"Aeka?"

Seto strode through the room, looking back and forth as a sense of dread grew within her.

"This is not encouraging."

"Excuse me, Lady Seto?" Mihoshi held out the veil that she had just found on the floor. "What's this?"

Seto looked at the silken cover, recognizing it as part of a servant's outfit.

"Hmm... I do believe that Aeka has been kidnapped."

Mihoshi's eyes lit up with excitement. "Really?" Suspicious disappearances and evidence on hand meant that she still had a part to play. Smiling with glee, Mihoshi snapped to attention and saluted.

"Galaxy Police Detective First Class Mihoshi Kuramitsu is on the case!"

Everyone groaned as Mihoshi went off on one of her fantasy detective adventures.

"What we have here," Mihoshi began pacing the floor back and forth with a look of intense concentration on her face, "is a missing person case. Aeka Masaki, soon-to-be wife of Tenchi Masaki has disappeared from her room with only this veil as evidence. What could it mean?"

Ryoko jumped in, eager to participate in finding Aeka, despite Mihoshi's predilection towards the melodramatic.

"I found this note."

Mihoshi turned on Ryoko, eyeing her warily.

"And just where did you find this note, Miss Ryoko?"

Seto snatched the note from Ryoko before Mihoshi could get her hands on it. As she perused the contents, Washu wiggled her way into the circle of women.

"If you don't mind, Miss Mihoshi, I'd like to perform an analysis on that that. I might be able to find some DNA or other hard evidence."

Mihoshi happily handed the veil over for examination.

"A first-rate forensic analysis is absolutely a must in suspicious cases like this."

Washu looked at Mihoshi wondering if her condition was contagious.

"Hog-wash!" Seto exclaimed, wadding the note up and tossing it over her shoulder. "This note is clearly a forgery."

"It took you that long to figure it out?" Ryoko wheedled the older woman just for fun. Seto's icy stare raised goose bumps on Ryoko's skin bigger than Mount Fuji.

"Detective Mihoshi," Seto directed her gaze on the GP officer, "the Jurai Royal Family would welcome your assistance on this case."

"Of course they would." Mihoshi answered around her wooden pipe. Somehow, while no one was looking, she had changed from her bride's-maid's dress to that of a Victorian era detective. "Our first order of business is to identify possible motives for kidnapping the Princess."

Those assembled thought hard, trying to think of someone who might benefit from Aeka's abduction. Seto spoke first.

"Nearly any foreign power might benefit from this. They could impose favorable trade agreements in exchange for her continued survival. However, that would, more likely than not, invite a military response on our part. With that in mind, Azusa must not learn of this if it can be solved quickly. He would... be very upset."

Nods and rumblings from the others indicated their agreement.

"Oh." Sasami lifted her head as she recalled something. "A couple of months ago, there was this lady, a senior high-school student in my school that got into an argument with Aeka."

"And that student's name?" Mihoshi inquired with notepad in hand.

"I..." Sasami thought hard. But it had been months ago and nothing had happened since. She couldn't quite recall the student's name, although she could clearly see the person's face in her mind. "I can't remember her name."

The others groaned with disappointment.

"Sorry."

"Was it Kassandura Donhower?" Washu asked when her holographic computer display finally gave her the results of the forensic analysis.

"Yes!" Sasami exclaimed at hearing the name. "That was it! I'll bet she hates Aeka."

"Oh?" Seto gazed at her younger granddaughter, expecting a full and complete explanation. "And just what happened the make you think that?"

"Um..." Sasami carefully considered how to explain Aeka's involvement with Kassandura without revealing too many details about her own personal involvement with Shuzan. "I was at an ice-cream parlor with a friend from school."

"Your boyfriend, you mean." Ryoko grinned at her.

"Ryoko!"

Fortunately, Seto knew all about Sasami's relationship with Shuzan, since she had had a hand in forging it. "You must be referring to young Lord Shuzan. Please continue."

Sasami breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't embarrassed by Shuzan, far from it. She just didn't want to have to divulge every detail of her personal affairs.

"Anyway, we were at an ice-cream parlor when this lady came in, claiming to be his student sponsor. She was upset that Shuzan had ditched her and tried to force him to leave. We got into an argument, and then she slapped me."

"Excuse me?" Seto looked at Sasami in surprise. "She struck a Jurai Princess?"

"Yes. But, as it turns out, Aeka was following us dressed as a clown."

"A clown?" The others asked as one.

Sasami sighed aloud with embarrassment at her sister's behavior. "Yes, a clown. She came running in and scared Kassandura so badly with her guardians that she ran away in terror."

Ryoko started laughing. She recalled that day and now felt glad that she hadn't gone along.

"Serves her right." Seto smugly approved of the result.

"I agree." Sasami nodded as she remembered the event. "Although, I've been wondering where Azaka and Kamidake got all those machine guns."

"Oh, you didn't know?" Washu answered. "They're closet mafia freaks. Kamidake has a massive collection of primitive Earth chemical projectile weapons, and Azaka actually published a paper comparing the Italian mafia with Jurai's royal family. It was really quite interesting."

Washu expose on the guardians' interest in mafia garnered a very intense stare from Seto.

"And who tainted them with that knowledge?"

Everyone pointed to Ryoko.

"What? We were watching The Godfather and all of a sudden they just went off into a corner and started whispering to each other. The next morning they wearing dark suits and sunglasses."

"So, there's also a mafia connection." Mihoshi nodded thoughtfully as she considered the implication of this new development. "This could get complicated."

"Not to mention dangerous." Ryoko added folding her arms over her chest.

"Oh, you guys!" Sasami started giggling at the ridiculous conclusions they were entertaining.

"Enough of this." Seto's cold and focused demeanor put an end to the fantastically incorrect conclusions. "That girl was here, and she had motive to do harm to Aeka. More importantly, Aeka is missing, and we must find her. Need I remind you she is scheduled to get married today?"

"Hey!" Ryoko exclaimed. "So am I! We'd batter find her quick. Tenchi said he wouldn't marry either one of us if he couldn't have both!"

"Excuse me." A older man's voice from the open door interrupting the girls' investigative session. They turned to see who had come in.

"I believe I'm supposed to give away a young lady today." Katsuhito regarded those assembled with calm fondness.

"Please, come in, Yosho." Seto invited the man in. "Make sure to close and lock the door behind you."

Katsuhito raised an eyebrow at the suspicious request. He was quite familiar with Seto's sense of humor and found himself wondering if she had some nefarious plan for him. However, disobedience would incur a much more severe response, playful or otherwise. He pulled the door shut behind him and pressed the privacy button, locking the door.

"Is something wrong?"

"Aeka's gone missing." Seto informed him.

Katsuhito's voice rumbled in his throat as he considered this development.

"This is trouble. Father is already grumbling about how long this is taking. He's just anxious to see his daughter married, of course. Tenchi is also wondering what the delay is about. At the moment, he's just chalking it up to a woman's right to be late while preparing for an engagement."

"As Ryoko said, we had best solve this mystery quickly." Seto agreed with the bride. "Everyone look around. Perhaps we'll find more clues."

The group broke apart to search the room for further evidence. Mihoshi examined several desktop items with her magnifying glass, a thin curl of smoke issuing from her pipe. Washu began deploying a sophisticated array of sensors to sweep the room in no time flat. Ryoko went out the French doors to check the balcony. Sasami retrieved the note that her grandmother had tossed aside so that she could read it and perhaps glean some information from it that the others had not. Katsuhito stood by Seto's side, as he was used to watching others with an approving grin. This garnered a look from Seto that sent him hurrying to find something to do to help with the investigation.

Ryo-oh-ki was also eager to help. She scurried off into the nearest corner and began sniffing along the floor boards, hoping to detect Aeka's scent. She was no bloodhound, but she could pick up recent chemical traces of a person's passage. She already knew Aeka's scent, so finding some trace of her shouldn't be too hard. She followed the walls, going under tables and behind rice-paper screens. It didn't take her too long to find what she was looking for. But Aeka's scent was also intermingled with an unfamiliar scent. Someone else had gone with her. Eager to share her find with the others, Ryo-oh-ki ran for the center of the floor and started yowling as loud as she could to get someone's attention.

Seto was already there in the middle of the room supervising, when Ryo-o-ki emerged from behind a changing screen in the corner and began making an awful racket. She knelt down on one knee and tried to pick-up the noisy creature.

"Well, now, little one. What's all the fuss?"

Ryo-oh-ki evaded Seto's hands and ran a few steps towards the wall, still meowing like mad.

"Over here?" Seto stood up and followed the little brown cabbit behind the changing screen. Ryo-oh-ki stood up on her hind legs and began scratching at the wall. Grinning with satisfaction, Seto called for assistance.

"Little Washu! Would you come over here, please?"

Washu abandoned her sensors when Seto called for her technical expertise. When she saw Ryo-oh-ki scratching at the base boards of the wall, she knew the little creature had found something important. Either that, or she had found a hidden stash of carrots.

"Find something interesting?"

"I believe so." Seto answered, not realizing that Washu was speaking to Ryo-oh-ki.

"Let's see what you've found, shall we?" Washu called up her holo-computer and tapped a few commands in, causing a small black hole to appear just at shoulder level. She stuck a hand through it and pulled out a hand-held scanner of some type. The hole and her computer then disappeared. Pointing the device she had retrieved in the general direction of the wall, she hit a couple buttons and stared at the miniature screen.

"Ah, ha!"

"'Ah, ha!' What?" Ryoko came floating back in when she heard Washu's exclamation. Sasami and Katsuhito also came to investigate, while Mihoshi gave particular attention to a tea pot.

"This seems suspicious. This tea pot has no top. It should have a top. What could this mean? I'd better dust for fingerprints." Breaking out her dusting kit, Mihoshi proceeded to coat the pot with white powder.

Behind the changing screen, Washu set her hand flat against the wall. A jolt of kinetic energy leapt from her hand and blasted the false wall to pieces, scattering them along the dark tunnel floor.

"My, wasn't that sophisticated?" Seto took the opportunity to tease Washu about her lack of finesse in handling the concealed door.

"It seemed the most expedient method." Washu explained. "If you like I can reconstruct the door and then take my time with a very thorough and scientific analysis of the door's molecular structure in order to find the weakest point, any hidden latches, hinges, or traps, and then devise --"

"Yes, yes, I'm sure." Seto waved a head at the diminutive red-head demonstrating her lack of patience regarding this issue. "Who wants to go?"

"I'll go." Ryoko instantly volunteered.

"Not in that dress, you won't." Seto insisted, looking at the very beautiful and extraordinarily expensive wedding dress that Ryoko still wore. The girl looked herself over once and then commenced to stripping.

"Someone gimme a hand with this?"

Wide-eyed at Ryoko's lack of modesty, Sasami grabbed the changing screen that had been partially concealing the hidden doorway and pulled it between Ryoko and her elder brother.

"Ryoko! Wait a minute!"

Seto and Washu both sighed aloud. Teaming up, they each grabbed one of the old man's arms and pulled him across the room where he could not so easily spy on the bride while she disrobed.

"Do you think so little of me?"

"Yes!"

Aeka awoke on her side on a cold floor. She tried to stretch her numb and tingling limbs, but her feet hit a solid barrier. Opening her eyes, she saw that she was in some sort of isolation chamber. There was a shimmering wall of force surrounding her, holding her prisoner. She sat up a little too quickly, causing her head to spin for a few seconds.

"Oh, my..." As the dizziness passed, Aeka looked down and realized that she was completely naked. "Eyaaah!" She curled up into a ball as best she could while covering her chest with her arms.

"I see you're awake."

Aeka looked out of her energy cell to see Kassandura standing nearby with a camera. Aeka immediately realized what the woman had in mind for her. By taking pictures of her like this, she could cause the royal family immense discomfort and embarrassment, just as she had once caused this person.

"Kassandura! For Gods' sake! Do you have any idea what you've done! My family will have you executed for this! You should have at least kept your face hidden."

Kassandura leered at Aeka through the shimmering field.

"Oh? What good would that be if you didn't know who it was that embarrassed you to the galaxy? Princess Aeka..." Kassandura approached the cell, grinning maniacally. "I just won't be satisfied with less." She raised the camera and aimed. "Smile, you pregnant little whore."

Aeka glared at the woman with the utmost contempt as the camera clicked away, taking the damning pictures. "You fool. Do you think me helpless to escape?" Aeka concentrated to bring the little icons of power into existence. Kassandura backed away at the sight of them.

"I thought you said she wouldn't be able to do that in there."

"Interesting." A cultured male voice spoke from a dark corner of the dim room.

Aeka's icons disappeared like soap bubbles at the sound of that voice. She could never forget the experience of having a madman invade her mind. But that man was dead. She had personally witnessed his death. Aeka assured herself that whoever this person was, he was not Kagato. Peering through the shimmering barrier, Aeka tried to get a better look at the dark figure standing behind some sort of control panel. But the interference of the shield and the lack of light gave her little to work with.

"Whoever you are, I demand you release me at once."

"I think not, dear Princess. I have much to learn from the Jurai Royal Family." The figure's head turned slightly to the side. "Kassandura, I have thus far exercised great patience. However, my patience is not infinite. Take your pictures and be gone."

"As you say." Kassandura sniffed at the rather pushy man, then closed again to resume her photography.

"I think not." Aeka fixed her glare on Kassandura as she began summoning the small wooden icons again. But this time she received no spoken warning from the man behind the console. Only a slight humming sound heralded Aeka's punishment for her continued disobedience. A bolt of electricity arced from the edge of the energy field to Aeka's shoulder, giving her a good shock. Aeka jumped with fright.

"Ow! You fiend! That hurt!"

The man behind the console smiled at her.

"Do I have you attention? That little jolt was the merest fraction of the power available to me here. The cables you see along the floor are the main supply lines for this entire block of the academy. Do you have any idea how much power an entire block consumes in a single hour? I doubt even a Jurai princess could resist that kind of power for more than a few minutes."

"I can resist for as long as it requires for my friends to arrive!"

"Such confidence is admirable, princess." The man's white-toothed smile grew wider. "What do you say we find out if you speak the truth?"

"Hey, hold a minute." Kassandura interrupted. "You didn't say anything about torture."

The man's smile quickly disappeared.

"I grow weary of your useless prattle. Silence yourself, or I shall do it for you."

Kassandura wisely remained silent.

"Now, then." As the man's hands played across the console before him, Aeka made the choice to switch from offense to defense. She normally would have gone on the offensive. But she had another life to worry about other than her own. She exerted her will-power towards creating a defensive energy shield just in time to protect herself from the next electrical attack. Electricity arced and crackled across her shield like one of the plasma balls she had once seen in a novelty store. Only she was at the center of the ball.

"Excellent!" Aeka's torturer crowed as he cranked up the power. "You are indeed as powerful as reports have led me to believe. This shall be... educational."

Aeka grimaced as she tried to compensate. She could hold out for a while. But at some point, she would need to rest. Unlike a human being, her tormentor's machinery would never tire. There was only one thing she could do; call for help.

_"Ryu-o..."_

There were many Jurai battleships within the confines of the Galaxy Academy solar system for the occasion of the royal wedding. All of the most powerful ships were arrayed in a protective formation around one planet in particular. As everyone knew, at the center of each Jurai ship, there was a tree. That tree carried the same name as the ship. Within the ship Ryu-o, the sapling tree that maintained control of the ship rustled as if a gust of wind had just blown through the bridge of the ship. But there was no wind to speak of. Suddenly, a rainbow of light burst from the tree's leaves, playing across the water surrounding it. The tree spoke.

Back in Aeka's preparation room, Seto had found a chair to sit in while Sasami paced around and Katsuhito knelt on the floor in quiet contemplation. As one, they all suddenly looked up. Ryu-o was speaking.

"Aeka!" Sasami gasped aloud.

With a groan, Katsuhito rose to his feet.

"I'd best go speak to Father."

"Indeed." Seto quietly agreed. If she knew Azusa, he would not spare the firepower.

"Grandma Seto?" Sasami meekly inquired.

"Yes?"

"I... I want to help."

"I'm sure you do. What exactly did you have in mind?"

Sasami's shoulders slumped as quickly as her resolve.

"I don't know."

Seto folded her fan and stuck it into her sash.

"Why don't you come sit with your grandmother, hm?"

"I'm too old for that now."

"Sasami, you are NEVER too old to sit on your grandmother's lap, understand?"

When Sasami saw the look in her grandmother's eye, she scrambled to comply.

"There, now." Seto smiled as Sasami sat across her legs. "Isn't that better?"

"Yes, much."

"So tell me. What would you do if you went with your friends into battle?"

Sasami's silence confirmed for Seto what she already knew. Sasami was just too sweet and peaceful for real combat.

"I have an idea. Why don't we pray to Tsunami?"

Sasami looked at her grandmother, her eyes all watery.

"If anyone has Tsunami's ear, its you, right?"

"All right." Sasami held her hands together and prayed, just as her grandmother suggested.

Deep within the dim labyrinth of tunnels under the academy, Ryoko, Mihoshi, and Washu were following Ryo-oh-ki as she sniffed her way along the floor like a first-class bloodhound. Washu felt in a rather foul mood, as her normal array of life sensors were behaving rather badly due to some form of interference from all the power lines and other assorted energy transference equipment down in the guts of the academy that kept things running smoothly for those above ground. She was mentally working on a method to pierce the interference when Mihoshi spoke up.

"This place gives me the creeps."

"We heard you the first three times, Mihoshi."

The tunnels were lit only by the occasional weak lamp every fifty meters or so. The rare light source made shadows that stretched and leapt as the travelers passed by. Every time one of the shadows leapt, so did Mihoshi.

"Eek! What was that?" Mihoshi whirled to point a shaky blaster at whatever she thought she had seen.

"It's your own shadow, you --" Ryoko suddenly stopped in mid-sentence as she heard a familiar voice in her head. The effort of concentrating on two things at once nearly sent her on her face. Although she had finally come to terms with those voices once she had learned that they were actually the whisperings of the royal trees, it was still disconcerting when one of them suddenly broke in on her thoughts with an important message. She could block them out, just as with Washu. But it seemed to hurt their feelings if she gave them the silent treatment.

"Hello! Crazy girl!"

Ryoko spun around with a growl.

"I ain't crazy!"

"You are for just standing there and holding up the works!" Washu countered.

With a start, Ryoko realized Washu was right. They needed to keep going. But luckily, Ryu-o had sent along an important piece of information in it's broadcast. It knew Aeka's general location.

"Follow me." Ryoko took off on a head-long flight down the dim tunnels. She called back as the other girls quickly fell behind. "This way!"

"Mya!" Ryo-o-ki eagerly followed as fast as she could.

"Hmm..." Mihoshi scratched her chin as she contemplated this development. "Since only the kidnapper knows Aeka's location, then Ryoko must be the kidnapper!" Realizing what she had just said, Mihoshi began to sniffle with regret. "But, I don't want Ryoko to be a criminal again!"

With a groan of disgust, Washu grabbed Mihoshi by her over-sized ear and dragged her along the path that Ryoko had just traveled.

"Come on, Mihoshi. I'm sure you're wrong, but we should follow along anyway. Aeka might need some help."

"Of course!" Mihoshi quickly brightened as she made a wrong turn. "Our first priority should be the victim's well-being."

"This way, Detective."

Aeka's breath came heavily as she tried to wipe the sweat from her brow. She felt exhausted from the continuous exertion of maintaining her shield for so long. The electrical impulses had been occurring at a slow pace at first. But then the orchestrator of her torture had upped the frequency to a near continuous rate. Now miniature bolts of lightning were dancing across her shield, each seeking a way through her weakening defense.

Aeka knew that she must have been missed by now. Someone would have gone looking for her and noticed that she was missing from her room. But why were they taking so long? Though she would not normally have let herself get angry at her friends for the delay, the anger buoyed her sagging endurance, strengthening her shield for a little while longer. That and the leering grin on her tormentor's face.

"Is that the best you can do?" Aeka challenged through clenched teeth.

The man chuckled with mirth.

"Your taunts shan't change the situation, Princess."

"Oh, really?" Having lived with a certain very disrespectful space-pirate for several years, Aeka knew a few choice taunts that just might get his goat. But to what end? What would that do except increase her chances of injury or death? The ding of an egg-timer sounded from the control console on the other side of the room.

"Ah!" The man rubbed his white-gloved hands together in anticipation. "Time to increase the power."

Aeka's jaw dropped at the news. She was having a hard enough time as it was, and this man seemed to think it was funny.

"You can't be serious!"

"Of course I'm serious. What purpose would there be in lying?"

As the man slowly turned a dial on his control panel, Aeka felt the increase of power as a pressure building upon her shield. If she had been fresh, she could have held back for some time even against this power level. But in her current depleted state, Aeka felt as if she were being crushed to death. Her muscles began to quiver as she rapidly approached her physical limit.

"Why are you doing this!" Aeka shouted. "Can't you see that I'm with child? Have you no compassion!"

The man's smile visibly widened. Then, finally, he leaned forward across his control panel and into the light, revealing his face. Aeka gasped in terror. It was him! The face of Kagato leered at her from his place behind the controls.

"None what-so-ever."

Kagato's response left no doubt in Aeka's mind that he would kill her when he was done with her. She had no choice but to escape immediately. Summoning everything she had left, Aeka focused all her power into explosively expanding her shield in an attempt to burst her prison. The effort tore a scream of defiance from the First Princess.

"Yes!" Kagato crowed as Aeka expended the last of her energy. "Give it everything! Show me what you're made of!"

Thus far, Kassandura had remained quiet and inconspicuous, watching from a dark corner. Honestly, she was impressed that the princess had held out for so long. Although she wanted revenge for the embarrassment this woman had caused her months ago, she was not murderer at heart. She had had no foreknowledge of this man's planned torture of Princess Aeka. If the princess died, then the pictures that she had taken would only implicate her. However, there was perhaps one thing she could do to lessen the punishment she was likely to receive for her part in the princess' death. She could summon help. Anonymously, of course.

"I've no stomach for such things." Kassandura stated as she unlocked the sealed door to leave. Her one-time associate ignored her, much to her relief. Kassandura stepped over the lower lip of the hatch-like door and closed it behind her. Breathing a sigh of relief, she turned to get out of these dank and dark tunnels as fast as possible.

Kassandura walked briskly back up the tunnel. She had only a short way to go before coming to the fork that would lead her away from the convention center and towards a seedier part of the city, thus concealing her escape. As she made the final turn before the fork, Kassandura thought she heard the whistle of high-speed air movement coming from up the tunnel. She paused, not sure what the sound could mean. Staring into the dim light, she noticed a shadow approaching.

"Um..." As the shadow grew, Kassandura began to make out some details. She saw greenish hair and glowing yellow eyes. The being looked like a demon from Hell come to punish her for her evil deeds. She turned back and ran for the door. But she couldn't outrun the demon from Hell. An angry female's voice yelled from down the tunnel.

"Get out of my way!"

The demonic girl plowed Kassandura over with the force of a dump-truck, planting her face-first in the floor. Kassandura groaned with pain as one of the demon's servants pranced across her back with a plaintive meow sound.

Aeka was almost in tears when the door to the sealed chamber suddenly exploded in a smoking cloud of molten metal and burning plastics, showering the room with reddish sparks.

"What!" Kagato slapped a single large button on the console, initiating an emergency memory dump of all data to his personal holo-computer. He had the information he needed. There was no reason to fight now. However, he had expected to have at least a few moments notice when someone finally arrived at the door. He had fashioned this chamber's exterior from dark matter, some of the densest material in the universe. It should have held against any normal being.

Ryoko waved the smoke away from her face to better clear her vision. As the smoke wafted away, she saw a ghost. Kagato stood on the far side of the room glaring in her direction. Ryoko could never forget that face. His stupid little spectacles and confident grin turned her stomach. But more importantly, his very existence should not be. She had watched Tenchi cut him in half. Kagato should be dead!

"You!" Although Ryoko wanted very much to attack and kill Kagato once and for all, she had more important things to think about. Across the room, she could see Aeka being electrocuted within some sort of torture chamber.

"Damn!" Ryoko rushed the chamber and slammed a fist into the mechanics of it above Aeka smashing it. She got a strong jolt of electrical energy for her effort. But the bolts of power that clawed at Aeka's weakening shield immediately stopped. The princess fell to her hands, breathing heavily.

While Ryoko was distracted, Kagato summoned his powers, willing a dimensional door to appear. The fabric of space-time broke down into it's constituent elements right by his side forming a large green rift in space. Smiling with anticipation at what was to come in the near future, he stepped through the door making a clean escape.

Once the power to the chamber was disrupted, the containing shield collapsed, allowing Aeka to flee if she so desired. But she felt so exhausted and weak that she made no attempt to move. She just hung her head, trembling with fatigue as Ryoko bothered her with petty details.

"Come on, Aeka. Let's get the Hell out of here."

"Just..." Aeka gasped, trying to catch her breath, "Just let me be."

Not sure what else she could do, Ryoko just stood there watching as Aeka caught her breath. Soon, Aeka sat up, covered her bare chest with her arms, and proceeded to yell.

"Well, you certainly took your sweet time getting here!"

Indignant at the treatment she was receiving in return for her concern, Ryoko yelled right back.

"Hey, quit your complainin'! I got here, didn't I?"

"Just barely! And you let that... that villain escape!"

"Well it looked to me like you were getting electrocuted! Since Tenchi won't marry me without you, I had to rescue you first!"

"Bah! I was doing quite well without your assistance, thank you very much! Wait a moment." Aeka made a show of looking around the room. "Where is Lord Tenchi? I wouldn't be surprised if you tied him up just so you could show off."

"Liar!"

"Hello in there!"

The girls turned to look as Mihoshi and Washu entered the room dragging a barely conscious Kassandura Donhower between them. Aeka raised an accusing finger at the girl.

"That's her! She's the one who knocked me out and dragged me here! That pompous, inhuman..." Aeka's face turned red with anger. "Mihoshi! I demand you arrest her at once!"

Mihoshi raised a hand and smartly saluted.

"Right away, your Royal Highness!"

Choosing to ignore the argument that was going on, Washu stepped up to Aeka's side and snapped her fingers. A bath-robe appeared directly over Aeka's head and fell on her, giving her at least a little bit of her modesty back. Aeka eagerly took the robe and draped it over her bare frame.

"Thank God. At least someone here" she looked pointedly up at Ryoko, "has remembered their manners."

Ryoko growled briefly and waved a hand at Aeka as she walked away, tired of the faux argument. In the brief pause in the argument, she had recalled the other person involved in this matter. Walking over to the instrument console where Kagato, or at least the person who appeared as Kagato, had been standing, Ryoko could still feel the remnants of his dimensional rift in the space where it had appeared. Little ripples and micro-tears in space-time where dimensions still hadn't quite mended properly still floated around in the area, invisible to the naked eye, but detectable to someone who herself could work similar miracles. Ryoko snorted with derisive humor as she realized that her time in the academy had taught her how space-time could theoretically be broken apart. She recalled that it had something to do with quantum mechanics, but she hadn't yet gotten that far in her studies.

"How do you feel?" Washu asked Aeka on the other side of the room.

"Tired." Aeka replied. "But that isn't important. I saw him!"

"Who?"

"Kagato!"

Washu looked at Aeka in shock. She of all people should know that what Aeka was saying was completely impossible. No one could survive being cut in half by Tenchi's sword. Washu laughed it off.

"Ha! No way. Even he couldn't have survived Tenchi's sword-strike. It was probably just a hologram or something."

Ryoko shook her head. "I saw him, too. He disappeared through one of his green portals."

Again, Washu laughed.

"Forget it. Teleportation isn't all that uncommon. You can do it. I can do it. The entire Jurai Royal Family can do it, with the trees to help. It's probably just like Lady Seto said. Someone wanted to get back at the royal family. Hey! Speaking of the royal family, don't you two have a wedding to attend to?"

Everything came to a dead stop. Both Ryoko and Aeka stared at Washu as if she had just revealed the secret of the universe, and it was a peach.

"Let's go."

"Well," Washu waved the girls on as Aeka got rather unsteadily to her feet, "have fun getting married. I'm just going to secure the crime scene while Detective Mihoshi takes the suspect in." Washu redirected her attention to Mihoshi. "Isn't that right, Mihoshi?"

"Huh? Well, I suppose. But, I'm really not supposed to incarcerate anyone until they've been read their rights. And she's still unconscious."

"Really? Hmm. Then I guess you should take her to the hospital for medical attention, first."

"Oh!" Mihoshi brightened considerably as the idea took hold in her mind. "That's a very good idea, Washu! Thank you very much! I think I'll do just that."

The blonde detective pulled her cube out of it's hidden pocket and gave it a twist or two. She disappeared along with her captive. Washu watched as the other two girls went off out the door, arguing over who was going to say their vows first. Now that she was alone, Washu could investigate the things that really needed investigation.

Moving to the blasted door, Washu conjured a simple matter analyzer. She held the long needle-like probe to the door-frame. On her way in, she had taken special note of the complete blackness of the material. Very few forms of matter could produce a total lack of reflectivity. The device seemed to take forever to perform it's analysis. When it finished, Washu was not terribly surprised to find that the device refused to acknowledge that there was any matter present at all.

It might take a few more minutes, but Washu resolved to determine for certain if this stuff was actually Dark Matter. Nearly undetectable, but not so hard to produce, she often created the stuff in her lab for various reasons. In solid form, dark matter was incredibly durable and almost indestructible. Since it took incredible amounts of energy to even bend it, it was excellent as armor, or for other high-energy applications such as radiation shielding. It absorbed most forms of energy, dissipating most of the energy into the fifth dimension, which also made it perfect for a sensor screen. However, because of these properties, it was notoriously difficult to mold into a useful form. Ryoko had shattered the door like a simple brick wall. Washu shivered at the thought of how much power was needed to do such a thing. This was far beyond what she had created.

Moving over to the console that Ryoko had seemed so interested in, she traded the matter analyzer for a spatial anomaly scanner and took a quick scan of the area. The tell-tale signs of inter-spatial travel immediately showed up. A more in-depth analysis of the anomalies revealed that the disturbances were of the exact same type that were created when Kagato's particular brand of teleportation had been used.

Sighing heavily, Washu tried to think of how Kagato could possible be alive. But no matter how she looked at it, it just wasn't possible. That left on one conclusion: this Kagato was either a clone or a new creation.

Cloning was simple enough. Kagato himself could have done it. But recalling how damn full of himself he had been, Washu didn't think he would have bothered with those kinds of precautions. The other option was less than satisfactory. If he were anew creation, that meant there was somebody out there with not only the right equipment, but the technical knowledge to actually create a living being. As far as she knew, the only other person alive who had the brain power was Yume. Washu shook her head. Yume prefered cold technology to warm living beings. It wasn't her style. Washu growled her frustration.

"Dammit, who?"

Outside Aeka's preparation room, Lady Seto Kamiki was holding a very worried Azusa at bay while the king's son bowed and scraped apologetically. Without warning, the door that she was blocking suddenly opened from the inside, allowing Azusa to see both his daughters, along with the other bride and her maid of honor.

"Aeka! What is going on here?"

Seto took the change in stride.

"Well! It seems that everything has been satisfactorily resolved. Isn't that right, Aeka?"

"Quite right, Lady Seto." Aeka quickly responded before anyone else could get a word in. Lengthy explanations could come later. "Father, I apologize for delaying the ceremony. May we proceed?"

Azusa just stared at all the beautiful ladies wondering about the delay and the very worrisome request for assistance from Aeka's tree, Ryu-o. Royal trees did not call for help for just any old reason.

"Daddy." Sasami smiled brightly at her father. "You're in the way!"

Azusa lowered his intense gaze and sighed. Apparently he was not going to get any answers today. At least he now knew that Aeka was safe and unharmed. Azusa stood aside to allow the women to file out.

Aeka took his elbow on her way past. Next came Ryoko. She stopped in front of Katsuhito, who seemed to be having some trouble with his glasses fogging.

"Well?"

"Flashy as always."

Ryoko propped her fists on her hips.

"Problem with that?"

Katsuhito held up an open palm as if in self-defense.

"No, not at all."

"So what's the hold-up?"

Giving up on the glasses, Katsuhito stuck them into his kimono.

"If you find my performance unsatisfactory..."

"Forget it." Ryoko snatched the old man's elbow. "Better you than a glob of goo."

"Pardon?" Katsuhito's eyebrows rose significantly.

"Private joke. Let's go." Ryoko dragged the confused old man down the hall with Mihoshi following closely behind. The young lady seemed a little more jovial now that she had gotten a part to play.

When no one else exited the room, Seto peered in to see if Washu would be forthcoming. But the red-head was no where to be seen. Shrugging, she decided it was about time to let the groom and his father know that the ceremony was ready to begin.

Tenchi sat on a hard wooden chair frowning at the delay while his father snored away with great zeal on the only cushioned chair in the room. Tenchi tapped his fingers on the chair's armrest while impatiently waiting for someone to come let him know that it was time to begin. He felt nervous enough as it was. An unexpected delay was the last thing he needed. Squirming uncomfortably in the hard wooden chair did little to restore circulation to his numb posterior.

"This woman's prerogative thing stinks."

Without warning, the door to Tenchi's preparation room swung open and in strode Seto Kamiki. Tenchi leapt to his feet like a grade-school student.

"Tenchi-dono?" The emerald-haired woman's eyes locked on to Tenchi. "Oh, there you are."

Tenchi gave his still snoring father a not-too-subtle kick to the shin.

"Aiyee!" Nobuyuki leapt up in shock. Seto continued on without so much as acknowledging his presence.

"I'm so sorry for the delay. But you know how it is on a woman's wedding day. Everything has to be perfect. I remember my wedding day..." Seto sighed wistfully as she raised a hand and snapped open a small fan in front of her face.

Tenchi inwardly groaned at the confirmation of his expectations while his father jumped up and down on one leg rubbing his shin with a look of pain. Tenchi noticed that Seto's eyes were locked in on him again. Sweat immediately popped out on his forehead.

"Feeling impatient?"

"Uh... Yeah."

"Why are men always so anxious to get the wedding day over with, hmm?"

"Wedding night." Nobuyuki muttered under his breath, leaning up against his son for balance while rubbing the shin Tenchi had so unceremoniously kicked.

Tenchi's face blanched at hearing such a coarse suggestion uttered in the presence of the Kamiki matriarch, even under one's breath. Although, he did feel a bit of relief to see Seto's soul-piercing gaze move to someone other than himself.

"Ah. I guess that explains Aeka's... condition."

Tenchi's face went from white to red in the space of a heart-beat.

"Oh, geez..."

"Well... what's done is done." Seto snapped her fan closed and stuffed it into her sash. Watching Tenchi squirm so reminded her very much of Azusa at that age. "Shall we?"

Tenchi sighed a breath of relief. He suddenly felt that marrying two women simultaneously would be a lot easier than trying to converse with a person of such powerful presence like Lady Seto Kamiki.

"Yes, please."

Sasami decided she rather liked wedding receptions. Any excuse for having a party was always welcome in her mind. But with these kinds of events, she was free to enjoy herself rather than cooking for hours and hours. That wasn't to say she didn't still enjoy making food for others, but with an event of this size there was no way she could have managed it herself. Besides, it was nice to be on the receiving end once in a while.

Looking around, Sasami truly felt that she was lucky not to be cooking for this wedding. There was literally hundreds of guests. In addition to the four great houses of the Jurai Royal Family, most of the major houses of royalty from throughout the Galaxy Union were present to some degree. Sasami had been very surprised to learn that Mihoshi was descended from the ruling family of Seniwa, a prominent and powerful member of the Galaxy Union. Although it was to be expected that members of a single family would look alike, Sasami though that perhaps they had been intermarrying a little too frequently. They all had blonde hair and blue eyes, and Mihoshi's mother, Mitoto, seemed just as loopy as her daughter. That wasn't to say they weren't nice people. In fact, they were ever so polite, even inviting Washu to sit and talk, once she deigned to show herself. That was the last time Washu had been seen at the head table all night.

Besides Washu and Mihoshi, there were a couple others that Sasami had not yet seen. Although her brother Yosho was present at the ceremony, she hadn't seen him since then. His wife, Airi, had been rather perturbed to find him missing, especially since she had intended him to finally meet their daughter, Minaho. She'd stalked off to look for him with the most angry and stormy expression Sasami had ever seen.

Also absent were Shusan and Seiryu Amaki. Although the two older of the three members of House Amaki were not present, it seemed they were unwilling to insult House Masaki by completely ignoring this momentous occasion and had sent young Shuzan to represent the house, much to Sasami's pleasure. When she had seen him sitting at a big old table all by himself looking very bored and lonely, she had gone right over and invited him to sit with her at her family's table. She felt a lot better for it, too. Now she had someone her own age to talk to. However, Shuzan, shy boy that he was, had hardly said a word to her the entire time. Hopefully he wouldn't take too long to work up the courage to ask her to dance.

Katsuhito Masaki thought it somewhat beneath a Shinto priest to skulk about a large public venue such as the site of his grandson's wedding like a common thief. But in order to avoid those searching for him, one sometimes had to swallow one's pride and do what was required. Personally, he thought he was doing quite well for an aging priest. Peering around the corner of a darkened hallway, Katsuhito grinned. One more stretch and he was home-free.

"Leaving so soon?"

Oh, that voice of bitter-sweet memories from his childhood. Even seven hundred years couldn't erase her voice from his memory. Turning slowly around to face the speaker, Katsuhito came face-to-face with Airi.

"How... very good to see you again, Airi-dono."

Airi's eyebrows went up in surprise.

"Is that all you have to say?"

"Ah... well..."

"And what is up with that pathetic disguise? You're not fooling anybody so drop it."

Katsuhito sighed as he requested of his tree, Funaho, that it cease maintaining the disguise which served him so well on Earth. In a moment, he became Yosho, Crown Prince of Jurai, once more.

"Is this what you had in mind?"

Airi stared at he long-lost husband as she recalled the last time she had seem him in the flesh. All her frustration seemed to be vaporizing like morning dew on grass when the sun rises. She just felt so relieved to see him again.

Yosho could see that seven hundred years had not altered Airi's feelings any more than his. She seemed quite taken with his appearance.

"Do the robes of a Shinto priest suit me?"

Startled out of her reverie, Airi suddenly recalled her other purpose for tracking her missing spouse.

"Well, I wouldn't want our daughter to think I was married to an old fart."

Yosho's jaw dropped as a pretty young lady of somewhat slight build with hair as dark as his own and reddish-colored eyes stepped out of the shadows and in to view.

"Daughter?"

"That is so. This is your daughter, Minaho. Minaho, say hello to your father."

Minaho bowed with due courtesy and greeted her father.

"Hello, Father. I'm very honored to finally meet you."

Yosho observed Minaho's polite bow and greeting with astonishment. He had had no idea. He struggled to recall if he and Airi had been together more than the once he could recall. That wasn't to say he had not loved her dearly. But still... it had only been just the once!

"Yosho, dear."

"Eh?"

Airi's voice pulled Yosho's attention back to the present, where he saw the lady scowling deeply.

"Aren't you going to even say hello?"

"Yes! I'm... happy that we could meet, Minaho. Forgive me if I seem a bit... out of sorts. I'm afraid this is all something of a surprise to me."

Yosho finally focused on Airi, wanting to have a few choice words the her now that the initial meeting was out of the way.

"Oh, if it's a surprise to you, how do you thing your parents and Lady Seto felt?"

"Put out, I'm sure."

"It nearly started a war when I insisted on being married to you." Airi put a hand to her forehead as if she were going to swoon. "How could you leave me so? And with child!"

"Airi..." Yosho reached out and put a hand on Airi's shoulder, "it wasn't your fault. I was under so much pressure..."

"That's no excuse to abandon us."

"But I didn't know!"

"And I hear you have grand-children, now. What kind of an example is that to your daughter?"

Yosho held out on a response for a moment. Airi had always been the last person to say anything about what was proper and correct. She also always enjoyed teasing him to no end. Anything to get a rise out of him. But now, he was a little better prepared to deal with it.

"Well, if my performance as your husband has been unsatisfactory..." Yosho turned partially away, hiding his humor behind centuries of practice.

Airi looked at Yosho with a growing sense of alarm.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What do you think it means?"

Airi stared at the side of Yosho's head for several seconds as she tried to discern if he was joking or not. Either he had grown exceptionally skilled at hiding his emotions, or he really meant what he was implying. She couldn't make out anything from his stony expression.

"Don't play games with me, young prince." Airi stepped right in front of Yosho and stared him in the face. "What do you mean?"

Yosho took one look at Airi's determined expression and grinned.

"What? Can't take a joke?"

It was Airi's turn to drop her jaw. Yosho didn't play jokes. He was the uptight and always concerned First Prince of Jurai! He had no sense of humor that she could remember. She had teased him because she thought he needed to lighten up. Now he was the one playing jokes on her.

Perhaps it was frustration at waiting for her man to return after seven hundred years that drove her to it. Or perhaps she was simply so shocked at the sudden turn of event that she couldn't think of anything else to do to get him back. But for whatever reason, Airi reached up and, grabbing Yosho by the neck of his kimono, she pulled him down and kissed him. He didn't seem to mind.

Momentarily forgotten by her parents, Minaho sighed aloud.

"My, my, my. It seems I am no longer required here."

It isn't often that the Lady Seto got a chance to spend time with her husband. She always seemed to be off somewhere blowing away pirates. As much as she enjoyed doing so, there was much to be said about taking a break once in a while to be with one's beloved. It was an especially rare event when she had the opportunity to dance with him. The big bearded man was actually a very good dancer.

"I am constantly amazed at your dancing skills, dear."

"I expected it would be required in order to court a lady of high standing such as yourself."

Utsutsumi gave his wife a spin as the end of the song approached. His performance managed to gain a grin a approval from his spouse as he pulled her back in.

"Flattery will get you nowhere."

"Is that so?"

Sasami was still sitting at the table, quietly waiting for Shuzan to ask her to dance when her grandparents, Seto and Utsutsumi returned from the dance floor. Seto took one look at the awkward young couple and decided to help things along.

"Shuzan!"

"Yes!" The young man practically jumped to his feet when the Kamiki family matriarch called his name.

"Ask Sasami to dance."

"Grandma!" Sasami complained, her face turning very pink from embarrassment. However, Seto's imperious command had the desired effect. Shuzan stiffly held out a hand to her.

"Sasami, would you like to dance?"

Despite how the situation had come about, Sasami had every intention of accepting.

"Yes."

Seto watched with approval as Shuzan led Sasami out to the dance floor.

"Much better."

Utsutsumi chuckled quietly to himself. What a lady.

Although Sasami didn't exactly approve of how she had gotten the dance, she was happy it was finally happening. Still, she felt she should apologize for her grandmother's imperious behavior.

"Sorry about that."

"It's all right." Shuzan accepted the apology easily.

"No, it isn't. Grandma Seto is always bossing people around like that."

"Well... she is one of the oldest members of the royal family. I'm sure she knows what's best."

"I guess. But, she doesn't have to be an ogre about it."

"Sasami!" Shuzan looked over his shoulder to see if Seto or her husband had heard. The emerald haired lady waved at him with a large smile. "You shouldn't say that about Lady Seto!"

"But everyone else calls her Oni-hime."

"Well that doesn't mean you should, too." Shuzan raised his eyes in unconscious thought as he recalled words of wisdom. "Tradition teaches us to respect and revere our elders for their knowledge, wisdom, and dedication. They brought us into this world and raised us. Therefore we should be grateful to them."

"Wow. That's really impressive." Sasami stared at Shuzan with new-found respect.

"Well, that's what uncle taught me."

Sasami looked around to see if anyone important was watching. When she saw no one that she recognized as politically influential, she leaned a little bit closer to tell Shuzan a bit of juicy gossip.

"Lord Shusan doesn't sound like such a bad person to me. It would be nice if he and my father got along a little better."

Shuzan sighed at the thought of a peaceful royal family.

"Yes, it would."

"Well, then." Sasami thought out loud, "I guess it's up to us to show them a good example."

Shuzan looked at her for a moment, then he chuckled a bit.

"Ah!" Sasami smiled at Shuzan's laughter. "I got you to laugh!"

"That's silly. Us showing them how to behave."

"We'll teach 'em a thing or two about how to get along!"

"Well, sort of."

"Just sort of?"

"Yes. I'm a guy and you're a girl. So..."

Sasami blushed for a second as she made the connection that Shuzan intended. But then she took it one step further and thought of her father and Lord Shusan getting along a little too well. Sasami burst out laughing.

"What?" Shuzan wanted to share in Sasami's humor, but he wasn't sure what was so funny.

"I just thought of my dad and your uncle getting along like this!"

"Oh, that's not right." Shuzan's face turned a vile shade of green. "Whatever made you think of something disgusting like that?"

Sasami shook her head, happy just to be so entertained. As she regained control of her laughter, she looked fondly at Shuzan, who also seemed to be looking at her in the same fashion.

"Sorry. You're right. It's gross. I don't know what came over me."

Shuzan shook his head. "It's okay. I like it when you laugh."

"Really?"

Shuzan nodded, bring a faint blush to Sasami's face. "You have a cute smile."

This time Sasami felt a warm flush not just over her face, but throughout her entire body. She couldn't recall if Shuzan had ever said such a thing about her before today. She couldn't think of what to say in response. But she liked the compliment so much that she couldn't help smiling broadly and thinking that Shuzan was a really, really, nice boy. She moved a little bit closer, and tightened her arms just a little bit tighter around Shuzan's shoulders. She felt pleased to feel his arms tighten around her waist.

Ryoko carefully elbowed her way through the folks standing and dancing about the floor area on her way to get herself and Tenchi some drinks. Now that the actually wedding was over, she felt that Lady Seto was right. She felt no different than before she was married. Although now she could make a very legitimate claim to Tenchi, rather than just an informal one. It was almost something of a relief. But really, she didn't want this day to be over. This was the ultimate party and it was all for her.

Snickering merrily as she made her way through the crown, Ryoko happened to notice Sasami and Shuzan dancing. She could tell by the way they were looking at each other that they were starting to have real feelings for one another. In fact, they were so engrossed in one another that they were completely ignoring everyone else. Seeing this obvious display of affection caused Ryoko's darker side to prompt her to do something somewhat devilish. Smiling broadly, she casually approached them on her way to the bar. Perhaps a little push in the right direction might be in order. However, it would look suspicious if she gave them that nudge without a dance partner. Taking quick stock of those who were just standing around, she spied King Azusa Masaki Jurai just a short distance away. Without thinking twice, Ryoko pushed her way past an anonymous couple and snagged his sleeve.

"Hey, you! Dance with me."

"Eh?" Azusa nearly fell flat on his face at the utterly absurd request. He had no interest in dancing with that woman, especially when he was having a perfectly good conversation with his own wife, Funaho. He looked over his shoulder, hoping for some help with the situation. But Funaho merely smiled and waved him on.

Grumbling pitifully, Azusa reluctantly went along with it. He supposed there was a certain duty to it. He could recall an etiquette lecture sometime in his past about dancing with the bride once just to be polite. But still, this was very distasteful for him.

"Was there some reason for this?" He grumbled to his dance partner.

Ryoko really hadn't been paying proper attention to Azusa until he spoke. In fact, she had been planning on just ignoring him until then. She looked up at him in surprise.

"Huh? What, aren't I a good enough dancer?"

"Let's just get this over with."

"Tsk." Ryoko hissed at Azusa's obvious reluctance. She had more interesting plans than dancing with someone who hated her more than anyone else she could think of. "Don't get you beard in a twist, Highness. It'll be over soon."

Azusa bristled at the sarcasm in Ryoko's voice. But he could grin and bear it as well as anybody. He had tolerated much worse in the name of duty.

All was well until Ryoko suddenly gave him a good push backwards. Arms pin-wheeling for balance, Azusa took a quick step back and slammed into someone behind him.

Sasami and Shuzan were still gazing fondly at each other when someone suddenly crashed into them. They came together so quickly, neither of them could avoid it. Sasami and Shuzan found themselves lip-to-lip. Shocked and embarrassed, they both took a giant step away, blushing furiously.

Azusa intended to give the despicable woman a solid tongue-lashing for her affront to his impeccable stature. He had spent years learning the detestable dance steps and etiquette required to be king. He didn't need help looking like a fool. Of course, it was difficult to berate a person when she wasn't even paying attention to him. In fact, Ryoko was peering past him at whoever he had barged into. He hoped it wasn't anyone politically important. One thing at a time. Turning around to offer an appropriate apology, Azusa was just in time to see Sasami barge through the crowd and head out the door. In fact, he didn't even get to offer an apology before Shuzan, whom she had apparently been dancing with, went chasing after her.

"Sasami, wait!"

Seeing that he wasn't going to have to debase himself in front of so many people, the King turned back around, intending to give that demon-woman to verbal lashing she deserved. But Ryoko was already gone. Fortunately, being one of the taller persons here, he had no difficulty locating her shock of crazy bluish hair over the heads of the others. He wasn't surprised to see her going for the bar. No, she wouldn't escape so easily.

Pushing his way through the crowd, Azusa followed as quickly as he could. How Ryoko could have gotten there so quickly was beyond him. He barely made it there before she was turning to return to whence she came. Azusa stopped right in front of Ryoko, blocking her path.

Ryoko looked up at Azusa in annoyance.

"Do you mind?"

"Yes, in fact I do. I believe you owe me an apology."

"For what?"

"You pushed me!"

"So?"

"It was rude."

"In case you didn't notice, I was trying to help your little girl get it on with her boyfriend. He's terminally shy."

Azusa's face turned red at what he was hearing.

"Get... it.. on!"

Seeing that she had gotten the king's goat once more, Ryoko smiled brightly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Did I offend you? Well, I wouldn't want to make a scene so I'll just be leaving." Ryoko tried to squeeze past the king, but he wouldn't have anything to do with that. He reached out and grabbed her by the arm, causing her to drop one of the two drinks she was carrying.

The sound of a glass shattering on the wooden floor attracted the attention of everyone around. Everyone who looked saw the King of Jurai and Ryoko face-to-face growling menacingly at each another. Luckily, someone was watching out.

Washu stepped in between the two angry persons, separating them.

"Now, now. No need for fighting. I'm sure my little Ryoko meant nothing by it. Isn't that right, Ryoko?"

"Tsk." With a hiss of distaste, Ryoko merely folded her arms across her chest and looked away.

"Isn't that right?" Washu directed a menacing look at her daughter, prompting the young lady to perhaps rethink her rudeness.

"Yeah, well, I was just having a little fun."

"There. See?"

Azusa also folded his arms across his chest.

"That was not a proper apology."

Washu's eyes flashed green.

"Well, it's the best your gonna get after man-handling my little girl. So take it or leave it!"

"Bah!" Azusa finally decided to let it go. Besides, he had heard stories about this short little redhead that could scare the white out of sheets. He turned and went looking for better company.

Once the king was on his way, Ryoko stuck her tongue out and gave him the raspberry. Instantly Washu had her tongue in a pair of forceps and gave it a good yank.

"Aah!"

"And you! You should know better than to pick a fight with someone like that!"

"uht ah idn!"

"Go dance with your husband!"

Sasami ran all the way out the front door before she stopped. Frankly, she wasn't quite sure why she was running away. She knew that it had been her father's fault for bumping into them. But still, she just hadn't been prepared for what had happened. She had imagined her first kiss as being something sweet and romantic, not accidental. But now she had made a fool of herself and she could never take it back. Sasami was just getting herself back together when Shuzan came outside.

"Sasami!"

Sasami turned to look at him. She suddenly felt ashamed for running away. She didn't want Shuzan to think that she disliked him.

"Shuzan! I..."

"I'm sorry for what happened. I wasn't trying anything, I swear!"

"I know. I just... I don't know why I ran away. I... just got scared."

"But... why?"

"I just... I always imagined my first kiss would be romantic and sweet. But... but... Oh, please, Shuzan! Don't hate me!" Feeling tears coming on, Sasami threw herself against Shuzan's chest, hoping that he wasn't embarrassed or hurt by what she had done.

"Sasami..." Shuzan put his arms around the girl, holding her tenderly. "Of course I don't hate you. In fact, I really like you."

Sasami lifted her face from Shuzan's chest and looked tearfully up at him.

"You do?"

"Yes."

"I... I like you, too."

This time, as Sasami looked into Shuzan's eyes, she felt something stronger than before. She wanted so much for him to like her, and to feel the same as she did. When she saw Shuzan move just that little bit closer, she closed her eyes, hoping.

Shuzan saw in Sasami the friendship and acceptance that he had never had from his family. She always seemed happy to see him, and even sought him out at times. Seeing cute little Sasami with tears in her beautiful eyes, he wanted nothing more than to make those tears go away. He leaned closer, hoping that she would let him make things better. When she closed her eyes, he knew she felt the same as he. Shuzan closed the gap and tenderly pressed his lips to Sasami's.

When Sasami felt Shuzan's lips, she felt such closeness as she had never felt before. She had never imagined that a kiss could be so wonderful. Sasami raised her arms up around Shuzan's neck and held him tightly. This was the way a romance was supposed to be.

END.

AFTERWORD: Kagato's back? Well, something like that. Don't think that I've misportrayed him. He more cruel and less of a gentleman for a reason. There is an entirely logical and reasonable explanation for this. But you will have to wait until the end of volume 4 before it is completely revealed.

No, I'm not going to do another wedding scene. Besides, how often do you see a wedding scene in a manga or anime? I hope the reception scene makes-up for that.


	25. Dance of Life

**INVASION, Volume 3, Part 9: The Dance of Life.**

DISCLAIMER: Tenchi Muyou! is copyright AIC/Pinoeer, LDC. I claim no rights to it. However, the events depicted in this story are entirely of my own imagination. Please do not copy or alter it in any way. Feel free to distribute this story as widely as desired.

FOREWORD: Volume 3 has definitely been the longest and hardest part of Invasion. I frequently found that the parts I originally envisioned, though interesting, were often insufficient to keep the story full and flowing. I probably wrote more support material than main parts! As a result, I got somewhat burnt-out and had to take longer than usual breaks between chapters. However, as there are only a couple of segments left, I have put them together in this chapter. For this reason, the story continuity may seem a little disjointed. I have made every effort to indicate where breaks in continuity occur so that there is as little confusion as possible.

Two of the segments are Sasami/Shuzan oriented, while only one centers on the rest of the group. I couldn't very well ignore the birth of Tenchi's first child!

Just a note of importance to those who might be wondering about or objecting to a Sasami and Shuzan romance: By this time Sasami has now reached the physical age of 13. She is in the eighth grade (middle school in the US). I have gone out of my way to make this abundantly clear. So, I don't expect to receive any hate-mail regarding "little" Sasami getting molested by a much older male figure. Shuzan is only a couple of years older (physically) than Sasami.

AUTHOR: Dreamr

LAST REVISION: 16 October 2005

BEGIN.

Sasami ran into the house like her pants were on fire. Actually, she was not really wearing pants. She was wearing her sailor-style school uniform, which included a rather short skirt. With the arrival of Spring, the weather was finally getting warmer. Even though the local weather control never allowed it to stay below freezing for very long, she was glad to be able to wear the cute little pleated skirt again, rather than the very long full-length skirt and blazer that was the winter uniform.

The reason for her haste was due to what had just happened outside the front door. As he frequently did, Shuzan had walked her home. But, before saying goodbye, he had shyly asked her to be his date for the Spring Prom at his high school. It had taken her a couple of seconds of stuttering to blurt out her acceptance. But accept she had. Sasami's heart beat wildly in her chest. There was so much to do!

As Sasami passed the sitting room on her way to the front stairs, she caught a glimpse of Ryoko out of the corner of her eye. Ever curious, Sasami paused to see what was up. Peeking silently around the corner from the hallway, she watched as Ryoko quietly crept towards Aeka, who was sleeping sitting up on the couch. Her head hung to her chest making a matching lump to her enormous belly. Although she tried to wear normal kimonos, her stomach made it look rather silly. Ryoko of course had no such difficulties. She was wearing her blue and gold striped dress complete with cat's-tail.

Ryoko was very carefully pulling Aeka's kimono open, exposing the princess' bulging gut. Sasami gently tapped a finger on the side of the wall, wondering what Ryoko had in mind. Then she noticed the big thick black magic marker stuck behind Ryoko's right ear. A sly grin arose on Sasami's lips. Aeka would be furious when she awoke and saw that someone had written all over her exposed stomach.

Suddenly, Aeka stirred. She smacked her lips and sighed in an unconscious effort to stop the thin line of drool that was slowing trailing from her open mouth. Ryoko froze. She waited for Aeka to settle again, then she looked quickly around the room. Her eyes alighted on Sasami and locked on to her. Sasami smiled and waggled her finger at Ryoko as if scolding her. Then without a word, she left to go upstairs to her room as she had originally intended.

It was easy for Sasami to lose track of time when she had a lot on her mind. Right now definitely qualified. She needed to find something to wear. Going right for her very nice walk-in closet, she started rifling through her selection of dresses and kimonos. A kimono seemed a little too traditional for what she wanted. But as she pulled out dress after dress from her already large closet, she just couldn't find anything that she felt would be sufficiently impressive for her prom date. She was grumbling over her lack of appropriate clothing when her elder sister's screech of indignation rattled the windows.

"RYYOOOKOOO!"

Ryoko suddenly popped into Sasami's room right before her eyes.

"Holy crap, she's pissed!" Ryoko smiled as if nothing was amiss. "Sasami!"

"Well, that's what you get for misbehaving." Sasami chided her friend for her mischief.

"Ryoko, prepare to die!" Aeka's voice echoed through the house.

"Can I hide in here?" Ryoko begged of her friend.

"But you wrote all over sister's belly."

"Please!" Ryoko gave Sasami her best puppy-dog-eyed look.

Being a mischievous girl at heart, Sasami couldn't help wanting to have in on the fun. However, she knew when she held an advantage. This called for some creative negotiations. She smiled winningly.

"I'll help you if you help me find a new dress."

"Done!" Ryoko spat in her hand and extended it to seal the deal.

Sasami looked at the extended hand and carefully took only Ryoko's fingers making sure to avoid the small spot of spittle on Ryoko's palm. As they sealed the transaction, footsteps began to thud up the stairwell in Aeka's very familiar waddling pace.

"You can hide in here." Sasami pointed at the large pile of discarded clothes that she had just thrown on the floor.

"Yeah, it's such a mess she'll never find me in here."

"Shh!" Sasami pushed Ryoko well into the back and then began throwing clothes at her.

"Now lie down and be quiet!"

Ryoko collpased to the floor and remained silent as Sasami tossed all sorts of dresses and other clothes on top of her.

Suddenly, Sasami's bedroom door burst open.

"Sasami!" Aeka called for her sister.

"Yes, Sister!" Sasami came out of her closet like there was nothing at all going on. "Is something wrong?"

"Have you seen that woman?"

"Who?"

"Who do you think?" Aeka spouted furiously with her hands on her hips. "The other woman who happened to win Lord Tenchi's hand in marriage. Ryoko!"

"Um... No, Aeka. I can't say that I have."

Technically, it was not a lie. According to her bargain with Ryoko, she really couldn't say if she had seen that particular person.

"When I find that woman, I swear! Are you certain she's not hiding somewhere?" Aeka looked around suspiciously until her eyes alighted on the open closet door. "Ah!"

Sasami began to get nervous when she saw her sister's interest in the closet.

"Uh, Aeka, maybe you shouldn't go in there. It's a mess. I wouldn't want you to trip and fall."

"I'm pregnant, not an invalid, Sasami. I think I can manage." Aeka waddled over to Sasami's closet and peered inside. It wasn't as bad as Sasami made it out to be. Although the large pile of cloths at the far end did beg for attention.

"My goodness. It's not like you to neglect your laundrey. Where's the laundrey basket?"

Sasami immediately interposed herself between Aeka and the large pile of clothes.

"No, you can't carry all that! Washu said you have to avoid heavy lifting!"

Aeka folded her arms across her chest in a gesture very similar to what their father often did.

"I am not an invalid!"

"I didn't say you were." Sasami reassured her sister, walking over to join her. "Look, I'm sure Ryoko didn't mean anything by whatever she did. Can't you just forget about it?"

"Absolutely not! She wrote all over my stomach with a black permanent marker! Look!" Aeka whipped open her kimono to reveal not a strange picture or other inappropriate drawing, but a traffic advisory that read: "Makes Wide Turns".

Sasami immediately cracked a laugh at her sister's expense. She tried very hard to hide it, but it was just too funny.

"I'm sorry!"

"Oh, I see. You think this is funny. Very well." Aeka turned to leave. "On top of carrying Lord Tenchi's child for nine LONG months, I have to put of with all this tom-foolery not only from the resident troublemaker, Ryoko, but from my own little sister as well. What did I do to deserve such punishment?"

Sasami was still laughing when Aeka felt a sharp poke in the kidney.

"Oh!"

Alarmed at Aeka's sharp exclamation, Sasami came up behind to offer support.

"Are you all right?"

Aeka breathed a deep breath to steady herself. Flying elbows and knee-drops seemed to be the order of the day for her.

"Yes. Though I would like to sit."

Sasami went right to her desk pulled out her chair.

"Here you go."

"Thank you." Aeka gratefully accepted the chair just as another sharp joint struck her from within.

"Ouch..."

"Is he kicking?"

"Oh, yes." Aeka assured her sister. "And running and tumbling and all manner of other acrobatics to be certain."

"What's it like, Aeka?"

"Well..." Aeka looked up in absent-minded thoughtfulness.

"AAAHHH!" Ryoko's voice suddenly cried out from right in the closet where Aeka had just been looking. "I can't take it anymore!" She came flying out and dropped down right at Aeka's feet where she could look, listen, and feel her sister-in-law's baby kicking. "Lemme see!"

With a shaking fist, Aeka growled at Ryoko as the woman planted a long ear to the side of her over-sized stomach. Sasami shook her head in exasperation. So much for hiding Ryoko. The girl just couldn't resist listening to Aeka's belly.

Ryoko suddenly pulled her head away with a big goofy grin.

"He kicked me!"

"Well at least he knows who to target." Aeka growled down at Ryoko. But it was hard to stay mad at Ryoko when she seemed so fascinated with the child growing inside of her. "Silly woman."

It may only be an Eighth-grade graduation prom, but, for a first engagement, Tenchi was very impressed. It was not the prom that Tenchi was impressed with, but the band. He was supposed to be chaperoning the students, especially his young sister-in-law Sasami. But he just couldn't keep his eyes off of the band's rhythm guitarist, his beautiful wife, Ryoko. She looked so very content as she played. Her slender fingers danced across the strings of her instrument, causing an incredible variety of sounds to echo across the the gymnasium, which was currently serving as a dancehall. The band was playing an assortment of popular music songs, most of which were fairly neutral in overall composition. Although, he thought he recognized one or two songs from back home on Earth. Now he knew why Ryoko had asked for those songs in the first place.

Tenchi's purpose in being here was not to keep an eye on Ryoko, but Sasami. His sister-in-law was on a date with Shuzan. The only way Sasami had been able to get Aeka to allow it was to have someone on-hand in order to protect her virtue. Not that she really needed someone to protect her virtue. The one time she had lost her temper and driven Ryoko through the floor was still fresh in Tenchi's mind. Either way, his duty tonight was to walk around and generally keep an eye on things. When someone tugged on his shirt-sleeve, Tenchi braced himself for a wold-shattering cataclysm. He was rather surprised to see Washu grinning up at him.

"Washu."

"Hiya."

"What are you doing here?"

"Guess." She asked, grinning even wider.

"Mmm... checking on Ryoko?"

"No!" Washu jumped up and smacked him on top of the head with a folding fan. "Boy, you are thick sometimes. Your very pregnant wife says and I quote: 'Get yourself home, this instant!'"

Tenchi rubbed the eggonhishead for several seconds before realizing what the deal was. As this was the Spring following last year's hectic and very passionate Summer vacation on Ryuten, Tenchi knew that Aeka was due anytime soon.

"It's... time?"

"Bingo!" Washu praised him with a wink.

Tenchi nervously ran a hand through his hair.

"Oh, man. I'm not ready for this."

Washu reached out and took Tenchi's hand, smiling broadly.

"Sure you are. Come along, now."

Tenchi blindly followed Washu for a few steps before remembering his assigned duties.

"Wait. What about Sasami and Ryoko?"

Washu cast a contemplative glance out towards the stage. Sending out a few gentle mental feelers, she found Ryoko's state of mind to be quiet and calm, rather than boiling and rowdy as she had been expecting. Her mental quietude remind Washu of the lake in front of Tenchi's home in Okayama.

"She's fine. Besides, it'll be a while still. She should make it home in time."

"But I still feel wrong just leaving her here."

"Well, why don't you take a look up at the stage, Tenchi, and tell me what you think you should do."

Tenchi gazed at his wife for a few seconds.

"She looks content."

"Exactly. Why ruin that?"

"All right." Tenchi agreed with a sigh. "But we should at least leave her a message."

"It's already taken care of."

Tenchi allowed Washu to lead him through the throng of teenagers to the school's main entrance. Just as they were exiting, Washu stopped dead in her tracks, nearly causing Tenchi to run her over.

"Hey," Before her could say more, Washu spun around and slapped a hand over his mouth while pointing to the side of the entryway that was hidden by the open door. Peeking around the door, they saw Sasami and Shuzan engaged in a kiss. Is was not like they were making out, but it was enough to remove all doubt in anyone's mind about how they felt for each other. Quietly withdrawing back around the door, Tenchi put a closed hand to his mouth and, mimicing a distinct family mannerism, he coughed loudly. There was a quick flurry of movement from behind the door, then silence.

"Well, Little Washu." Tenchi said loudly as he walked into plain view. "How much longer does Aeka have?"

"Oh, it'll be a little while yet." Washu answered, following his lead. "Now where did Sasami get to? Oh, there you are. Sorry to interrupt your date, Shuzan. But Sasami promised to give me a hand. Isn't that right, Sasami?"

"Yes, I did." Sasami verified while nodding. She then looked shyly at Shuzan. "Sorry."

"No, don't be." Shuzan assured Sasami with a smile. He then turned to Tenchi and bowed. "Please let me offer my congratulations."

"Thanks." Tenchi said, scratching at the back of his head. "Um, I don't mean to be rude, but, can we go now?"

Washu cackled at Tenchi's growing nervousness.

"Sure." Sasami agreed. "Let's go."

With a sigh of relief, Tenchi began walking quickly to the parking lot, despite the fact that Washu had already conjured another of her dimensional portals for them to use.

"Tenchi!" Sasami called after him.

"Huh?" Tenchi looked over his shoulder.

"This way!" Sasami demonstrated the proper route by jumping through the portal.

"Oh. Heh-heh. Yeah." Tenchi quickly followed.

"Well, have fun, kid." Washu offered. "Oh! Would you do me a teensie favor and tell Ryoko in about two hours that we went home to see Tenchi's baby being born? Thanks!"

The diminuitive scientist disappeared through the portal before Shuzan could answer yea or nea.

"Ah, sure. I guess."

Much later that evening at the Masaki house, someone began pounding incessantly on the door to Washu's lab.

"Come on, Washu! Open up! I wanna see!" Ryoko continued to pound on the door, demanding entrance. "Please! Please let me in! I promise to behave! I'll even help!"

Finally, after much pounding, begging, and pacing, the door slid open. Washu's cheeky face peeked out. She was wearing a white nurse's outfit.

"You promise?" She asked looking rather skeptical.

"I swear! Cross my heart and hope to die." Ryoko even crossed her heart with her fingers, giving more creedance to her pledge of cooperation.

"And you won't flip out, no matter what you see?"

"I can take it." Ryoko assured Washu, slapping a fist to her chest.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Washu cautioned as she opened the door enough for Ryoko to follow her into the lab. Ryoko stayed right behind her, a gigantic smile on her face.

"What are you so excited about? You'd think it was your kid getting born."

"Aren't I allowed to be happy?"

Washu smiled at Ryoko's rather uncharacteristic display of emotion.

"Absolutely. In fact, be as happy as you like. Just don't let that happiness get in the way!"

Washu and Ryoko emerged from the darkness of the lab into a room that looked like it was right out of ancient Japanese history. Wood furnishings and rice-paper doors abounded. Bright sunlight streamed in from several open windows, illuminating the room with totally natural light. Aeka was laying on her back on a large wooden table in the middle of the room with her legs held up and supported by some weird mechanical contraption. At one side, Sasami was holding her hand, and at her head Tenchi was worriedly dabbing a cool cloth across her brow. Washu asked about Aeka's status as soon as she was within earshot.

"How's she doing?"

"About the same." Sasami answered. She had on a cute little nurse's outfit that matched Washu's.

"Hey, Fatso." Ryoko greeted as she reached Aeka's side.

"Just you wait." The expectant mother growled up at her. "It'll be your turn, some day."

Ryoko actually blushed. The thought of having Tenchi's babies always gave her a wierd mixture of feelings.

"No rush." Tenchi assured her.

Washu walked around to the business end of the affair to check on Aeka's progress.

"It shouldn't be much longer. I don't think you'll dilate out much more than that."

"Oh, gods." Aeka groaned.

"Hold on for another few minutes." Washu ordered as Aeka began breathing rapidly to avoid pushing with the contraction. She was all right for the first ten seconds, but after that, her breathing pattern faultered and she groaned loudly.

Ryoko watched Aeka's labor with intense scrutiny. She had been expecting this beautiful, blissful experience. Frankly, it looked like Aeka was in pain. Curious, she leaned past the vertically-hung sheet that segregated the area of consideration from casual observation to see what was going on. When Ryoko realized that she was seeing the top of the baby's head peeking out, she quickly withdrew.

"Ho! My deary... Wow! I... think I'll stay over here from now on."

"Yeah, that's what I said." Tenchi agreed as the contraction passed.

Aeka suddenly reached up and grabbed Tenchi's collar, hauling him right down over her face.

"You did this to me! You're going to watch, even if I have to tie you down and prop open your eyelids with toothpicks!"

Everyone's eyes went wide with shock. Aeka quickly realized what she had said, and released Tenchi.

"I'm sorry! I..." She let her head flop back on the headrest. "Oh, Washu-sama! How much longer must I endure?"

"Not much longer. You don't want to lose your steam in the middle of things, do you?"

"Hey, Washu." Ryoko meekly inquired, still wondering why Aeka looked like she was not enjoying herself. "You've done this before, right?"

"I... have." A blank look passed across Washu's face as if she were trying to remember some event far in the past. Her gaze quickly returned to its normal laser-like intensity. "Although I didn't insist on doing it the old-fashioned way, like Mrs Masaki, here. Aeka, are you sure you don't want some pain-killers?"

Aeka hesitated to answer. Initially, she had refused. Nature intended things to be done in a certain way. Using drugs and other various scientific implements were not a part of that method. But now she was having second thoughts. She was just about to accept the offer of some pain-killers when Tenchi leaned over her again and whispered to her.

"You can do it."

Aeka's resolve hardened.

"Absolutely not! If you so much as touch me wrong, I'll have your head on a silver platter! Speaking of which, don't get any funny ideas, either! I am the First Princess of the Jurai Royal Family! Only a select few ever have the privilege of such a viewing!"

"Exactly!" Washu agreed. "Why do you think I'm recording it? I'll make millions selling tapes of this on the black market!"

"WHAT?" Aeka's head snapped up.

"Just kidding!" Washu assured her. "But, if you really want a recording of the birth, we can do that."

Aeka's head thumped back onto the headrest.

"Why me?"

While everyone was absorbed with Aeka's tirade, Ryoko slipped her hand into the princess's as a show of silent support. Aeka squeezed tightly. Then she clamped down with incredible strength. Ryoko's eyes widened at the power in Aeka's grip as she groaned loudly.

"Hey, hey!" Washu quickly objected. "I didn't say push!"

Aeka completely ignored Washu in order to accomplish the task that her body had set out for her. For her, the waiting was over. After a few seconds, she relaxed, collapsing flat on her back.

"No... more... waiting!" Aeka growled in between massive gulps of air.

"Okay." Washu reluctantly agreed as she scrambled for the neccesary implements. "But don't blame me if you tear."

"Tear?" Ryoko looked over at Washu in shock. "Are you kidding?"

"Nope. If the birth canal isn't dilated enough when Aeka pushes the baby out, she could tear down there."

Shivering visibly at the thought, Ryoko offered Aeka her sympathy.

"Hey, Aeka. You sure you don't want an aspirin or something?"

"No!" Both Aeka and Washu yelled at her.

"Well, why the Hell not?" Ryoko yelled right back.

"Aspirin dilates the blood vessels." Washu explained as she looked around one last time to make sure she had everything she might need right at hand. "Makes you bleed more."

"Oh." Ryoko sheepishly replied. She felt totally stupid just standing here while Aeka was laboring so hard. Looking down on the princess, she could see the sweat popping out on Aeka's brow as she caught her breath. Tenchi wiped the sweat from her forehead. But it was quickly replaced by more when Aeka suddenly grimaced.

"Washu!"

"Ready whenever you are!" Washu slapped her hands together with an expectant smile.

Aeka took a deep breath and proceeded to push as hard as she could.

Ryoko took one look at how hard Aeka was working to do this and instantly grew curious as to what the difficulty was. She tentatively took another peek over the sheet. Her eyes grew wide as saucers as she watched the head slowly emerging. Suddenly, Aeka collapsed again, her chest heaving.

"Don't stop you lazy bum!" Washu promptly taunted her.

Aeka's eyes flashed and she growled out loud. Inhaling deeply, she resumed pushing, this time with a visible snarl.

Ryoko resolved to watch the process through. If she were to someday do this, then she wanted to know what she was in for. Her eyes grew even wider as she witnessed the child's head emerge from within Aeka's body. Ryoko had never given any real thought to the actual process of birthing a child. As a result, she had never realized that the woman would be pushing an object the size of a grapefruit out a hole the size of an orange. She was quickly growing seriously impressed.

"All right. Head's out." Washu encouraged Aeka as the child's head fully emerged.

Momentarily drained, Aeka fell back again with a moan of fatigue.

"No resting now, lazy-bones!" Washu taunted her charge again. "If you keep slacking-off Tenchi's gonna think you're lazier than Ryoko!"

Aeka nearly started to cry. She was trying her hardest to see this through, not that she had much of a choice. But it was damned difficult and hurt like Hell. Everytime she pushed it felt like her head was going to explode from the sudden spike in blood pressure. She had no tolerance for listening to Washu's taunts.

Seeing that Aeka was growing upset that all of her hard work seemed to be unappreciated, Tenchi leaned over her and whispered to her.

"You're doing fine, Aeka. I don't for a second believe you're lazy. But you have to keep going. Okay?"

Encouraged by her husband's kind words, Aeka nodded. Luckily for her, she had used up enough time for another contraction to strike. Taking another quick breath, Aeka went back to work.

"That's the spirit!" Washu encouraged Aeka again as progress resumed. "Push!"

Just as her child's shoulders came out, Aeka suddenly cried out and fell back.

"What?" Tenchi looked down at the business end. "What happened?"

"Nothing major." Washu assured him. "Just a little tear. You'll never notice the difference, trust me."

Tenchi's face turned red. He really hadn't been thinking like that. He was just concerned for his wife.

"All right, Aeka. No use crying about it. Let's keep going. You can rest once you're done."

Aeka merely moaned with fatigue.

"It's all down hill from here." Washu continued to coax the princess into continuing.

Although she wanted nothing more than to just lay back and rest, Aeka knew Washu's words to be true. She had to finish, and the sooner the better. She took a couple deep breaths, then pushed again. It certainly didn't feel down hill to her.

"Great! Almost there." Washu held the baby's head as the rest of him began to slide out. "That's good."

Tired beyond measure, Aeka had to pause just to take another breath.

"Come on, push! I promise you're almost done. One more!"

Aeka complied, and the child finally came out into Washu's waiting hands.

"All right! That's the way!"

Aeka crashed. Flopping onto her back, she sobbed with relief. Tenchi leaned close, comforting her as best he could.

Ryoko, having witnessed an actual birthing, looked back to Aeka to see how she was doing. She couldn't blame her for crying a bit. It had looked like a really difficult process, not at all like she had imagined.

"Hey, Tenchi!" Washu called. "You want to cut the umbilical cord?"

"You're the doctor, Washu." Tenchi stayed right with Aeka for the moment.

"Suit yourself."

Seeing a sudden opportunity to actually help, rather than being a bystander, Ryoko quickly volunteered.

"I'll do it."

Washu looked up at her in surprise. She was just about to offer the laser scalpel to Sasami, although her young assistant did seem a little green around the gills. Now that she thought about it, Sasami had been awfully quiet. Maybe the sight off all the blood and other bodily fluids was making her feel a bit nauseous. Unsurprisingly, Ryoko didn't seem to be bothered by it in the least.

"Well, I don't see why not. Come around here."

Ryoko quickly joined Washu, ready to do whatever she was told.

"Sasami, would you give Ryoko the laser scalpel, please?"

"I got it." Ryoko volunteered, summoning as small of an energy sword as she could manage. "Cuts and cauterizes at the same time."

"Oh." Washu saw the utility in that. "That'll work fine. Well, just lop it off, then. No sense waiting on ceremony."

With a smile, Ryoko flipped her wrist and the task was done. She instantly felt much better having contributed to the overall process.

"Now scram!" Washu insisted. "You're in my way!"

"Yeah, yeah." Ryoko took a floating step backwards and out of Washu's way. "So how much weight did Aeka lose?"

"Just a sec!" Washu complained. "Lemme clean him up first. You're always so impatient."

Then the crying started. Freshly born, the small child found itself in an unfamiliar and uncomfortable environment. The wailing paused for a moment as Washu dunked him in warm water to wash away the birth fluids. When he emerged, he promptly resumed making his presence known. Washu toweled him off and then held him in the air with two hands.

"Okay, Sasami. Press that yellow button there on the table."

"This one?" Sasami tentatively placed her finger on the proper switch.

"That's it."

With a press of a finger, a golden field of light surrounded the child, holding him in mid-air.

"It'll just be a few seconds while I get the pertinent birth data."

The levitation field also served to assess the baby's mass, weight, size, genetic code, and overall fitness. Such an extensive array of tests took much longer in a conventional hospital. But with Washu's fantastic analysis device, the measurements were completed in only seconds. The field also had the function of scanning for and eliminating and eliminating any germs that might be on or even in his body. The ding of an egg-timer announced the data sampling and germ sterilization were complete. Holding her hands under the squirming child's neck and hips, Washu told Sasami to deactivate the field.

"Press the button again, please."

Sasami did as she was instructed. The field faded, releasing the baby to Washu's care.

"Blanket and cap."

Sasami took a soft blanket and cap from nearby and helped her to bundle the cold boy for warmth.

"Washu!" Aeka suddenly groaned again.

Washu promptly handed the child to Sasami, who gazed at his little pink face with wonder.

"Okay, Mom. We're just going to get rid of the left-overs."

Aeka could not have resisted even if she had wanted to. Her stomach contracted again, expelling the after-birth from her body. The normally unwanted portion landed in a special sample container Washu had prepared specifically for this event. She quickly put the top on and dropped the container into a dimensional holding cell. She had some very specific experiments planned for that stuff.

"There. That wasn't so bad, now was it?"

"I'd like to see you try it." Aeka breathlessly taunted.

"Even ten thousand years doesn't erase that kind of experience."

Tenchi was impatiently watching Sasami stand around with his new-born son. Washu caught a glimpse of his anxious stare and smiled.

"All right, Sasami. Let's not make them wait too long."

Sasami nodded. With a smile, she walked to Aeka and presented her with her first child.

"Congratulations!"

"Wow..." Tenchi stared at his son with a goofy smile.

"Help me up." Aeka demanded despite her fatigue.

"Hold on for a second." Washu insisted. "I still have to clean you up, down here. There's an adjust switch on the side of the table."

Tenchi peered around the edge of the table and found the switch. He pressed on one side of the rocker switch, and the table began to silently bend at Aeka's back, raising her to a semi-reclining position. She promptly held out her arms, reaching for her child. Sasami carefully transfered the small bundle to Aeka, who cooed and whispered to him.

"So, how much does he weigh?" Ryoko demanded again.

Washu glanced at the small display located on the adjacent table beneath the emmiter for her invention.

"Seven pounds, fifteen ounces. Twenty four inches long. According to the prediction, he should grow to be one hundred eighty centimeters tall, and almost a hundred kilos. Very healthy! I don't see any genetic predispositions towards any known diseases. No recognizable birth defects. Natural life expectancy without bio-enhancement and strengthening is ninety two years, with a reliability factor of ninety seven percent. Basicly, he's going to be a big, strong, healthy man with a long life. You two make good babies!"

"Can I hold him?"

Everyone looked at Ryoko. There were no sounds other than the soft breathings of people. Tenchi looked back to his son, and felt doubt. What if she did something wrong? Tenchi ruthlessly crushed the feeling. He quickly reminded himself that he trusted Ryoko. The feeling had only been a moment of unwarranted concern, he told himself.

"I'm all right with it."

Aeka looked up at him for a second, then sighed. It couldn't be helped.

"Just for a minute."

Ryoko gleefully reached for the baby.

"Remember what you were told. Support his head."

"I got it." Ryoko assured Aeka as she carefully took the warm squirrelly bundle from her. She put him right in the crook of her arm and looked into the face of Tenchi and Aeka's baby. Then she smiled.

Everyone relaxed when they saw that smile. It was not full of mischief or fun, but love and adoration. It was a smile she rarely used, for there was hardly ever an occasion to smile this way. Tenchi had seen this smile before. Sometimes, after he and Ryoko made love, she would look into his eyes and smile this way. Seeing her this way, Tenchi knew she would someday bear a child of her own, despite how she always said she wasn't really interested in it.

"He's so cute!" Ryoko chuckled as the child blindly swatted at the annoyance of her finger tickling his nose.

"Tenchi?" Aeka tiredly asked.

"Yes?"

"Have you decided on a name?"

"Hmm..." Tenchi had given a great deal of thought on the subject, and none of the names he and the others had thought of seemed quite right. But as he watched Ryoko giggling and smiling, a name popped into his mind.

"Hiroshi."

Washu smiled at that. Apparently she knew how Tenchi had come up with the name. But Sasami was not privvy to the details of the words.

"What does it mean, Tenchi?"

"Well, we don't usually pick names because they mean anything in particular. But, I think I'll make an exception. It means 'spreading laughter'."

Ryoko looked at him, suddenly aware that everyone was looking at her and smiling.

"Geez, Tenchi. You're embarrassing me! Cut it out!" Of course, this only brought bigger smiles and giggles from those watching, which caused Ryoko's face to turn a faint shade of pink. She did not know what to do. With Hiroshi in her arms, she could not very well just fly away or make obscene gestures to dissuade them from teasing her. There was no way she wanted to mess this up. Her only choice was to stand there and take it.

"Ryoko?" Tenchi asked.

"What?"

"You don't have to be embarrassed."

"Yeah, well..."

"Besides, you're pretty when you smile."

Ryoko's face promptly went from pink to bright red.

"Say cheese!"

Ryoko looked in the direction of Washu's call just in time to catch a flash bulb right in the eyes.

"Damn you, Washu..."

Her family laughed, and Ryoko laughed with them.

**Three months later...**

The sound of Sasami and Shuzan running down the stairs was clearly audible to Aeka. She already knew of Sasami's plans to go out bicycling with her young male friend today. So she was not overly concerned about it. However, the young lady had taken to dressing almost scandalously of late. Therefore, in order to maintain her sister's virtue, Aeka insisted on seeing what Sasami was wearing before she went out. When Sasami and Shuzan rushed past the opening into the hallway with only a rushed farewell, she instantly became suspicious.

"Sasami! Where are you going?"

"Out." Came the reply from the other side of the wall.

"Are you dressed appropriately?"

"Yes, Sister."

Sasami still had not come into view.

"Then why are you hiding behind that wall?"

There was a moment of silence, then Sasami revealed herself. She had on skin-tight spandex that only covered her hips and chest and a large pack strapped to her back. Aeka's eyes bulged when she saw her sister baring so much skin.

"Absolutely not!"

"But, Sister, this is appropriate for biking!"

"Not for the Second Princess of Jurai, it isn't! Go upstairs and change immediately!"

Sasami grumbled, but she obeyed, sending dark looks Aeka's way as she ascended the stairs. Shuzan quietly stood in the hallway waiting until Sasami returned a couple of minutes later. This time she was wearing a loose button-down t-shirt of naturally colored cotton and matching khaki shorts that came half-way down her thighs.

"Better?" She sarcastically asked.

"Much." Aeka nodded. "Will you be gone for lunch?"

"Yes. I already made everything. Your lunch is in the fridge. I brought ours." Sasami hefted the pack that she was once more carrying on her back.

Aeka grew suspicious again when she thought of the size of the pack and how much food must be inside to make it bulge so much.

"What do you have in your pack, Sasami?"

"I told you, lunch."

"Then you won't mind if I take a look, hmm?"

"Be my guest." Sasami unslung the pack and held it out in front of her.

Aeka walked to see if Sasami had hidden any other scanty outfits within. Unzipping the pack, Aeka peered in. When she saw only resealable containers of the type normally used for food storage, Aeka instantly felt guilty for doubting her sister.

"A picnic does sound wonderful. It's been a while since the last time we all went out together. Perhaps I should mention it to Tenchi."

Sasami smiled in agreement.

"That's a great idea. Why don't we go tomorrow?"

"I think that would work. Hiroshi is old enough now. We should be able to manage it. Have fun on your date, Sasami." Aeka turned to Shuzan, briefly acknowledging his presence. "Shuzan."

Sasami closed up the pack and reslung it over her back before literally pushing Shuzan out the front door before he could even wave goodbye to Aeka. Once they were safely hidden from Aeka's view on the other side of the closed front door, Sasami let her look of perturbed annoyance show.

"My sister is driving me crazy! Ever since Hiroshi was born, she's been treating me like a baby!"

Shuzan grinned knowingly. It was always a pleasure for him to be invited into the Masaki home. But having known Sasami's sister both before and after her baby was born, he also could see the changes that had come over her. It seemed to him that Aeka was just taking her duties as matron of the house a little more seriously now.

"Well, I think you're lucky to have a sister that cares so much about you."

Sasami's scowl quickly disappeared. Despite her annoyance with Aeka, Sasami still loved her sister very much.

"I guess you're right." She raised her eyes to meet Shuzan's gaze. "Shall we?"

Sasami and Shuzan lounged on a green hillside, away from the worries and concerns of school and family. Their bicycles lay on the grass a short distance away, awaiting the return trip home. Alone, they could talk about whatever suited them, or not talk, if that was what they wanted. With each passing day, they grew closer. What had started as a shy dance had become much more. Sasami wanted this day to be perfect, and that was what it was turning out to be.

Summer was always a time of excitement. Everything was so alive and green underneath the bright summer sun. The down-side was sun-burn and heat exhaustion if one didn't exercise proper precautions. But the opportunity to go out without worry of needing cumbersome winter clothing made the risk worth-while. Besides, lounging in the shade of a big maple tree with Shuzan was so relaxing.

Now that they were done with lunch, she had something to show Shuzan. Sitting upright on the picnic blanket, she casually undid the top two buttons of the button-down shirt she was wearing. With a sly smile Sasami began to pull her shirt out from her shorts. Shuzan took one look at what she was doing and blushed.

"Uh..."

Sasami watched Shuzan trying unsuccessfully not to stare while she pulled the bottom of her shirt from her shorts. Sasami rolled it up to chest level and then tied it in a knot in the front, effectively framing her chest area. She didn't have a whole lot to show, but displayed in this fashion, it was enough to get Shuzan's attention.

"There. How does that look?"

Shuzan just nodded. Sasami's smile grew wider. She loved it when Shuzan grew so enamored of her appearance that he forgot to speak. It probably wouldn't take much more to entice him into making a move on her. In public Shuzan was normally very shy and reserved around her. But when they were alone with no one else around, he would let her know how he felt. Although, it sometimes took a little convincing. That was okay, too. Sasami rather enjoyed teasing him a little bit. Speaking of which...

Sasami crawled across the blanket and sat next to Shuzan. Leaning up against him, she looked into his eyes. Shuzan looked down at her for a moment, then he leaned down to kiss her.

Sasami felt a little disappointed that Shuzan had succumbed so easily. She let him kiss her because she liked to do things like that with him. But it was more fun and rewarding when she had to work for it. On the other hand, she had once made the mistake of teasing him too much. He had grown so frustrated with her that he refused to touch her at all for the rest of the week. That certainly wasn't desireable. It was a steep learning curve, for sure.

As Shuzan slipped an arm around her shoulders, Sasami knew that he would try to lower her to the ground. That was fine, except that she was feeling playful. It was too soon for that. Sticking an arm out, Sasami braced herself against the ground. When Shuzan tried to implement his plan, she was able to resist. Shuzan broke off the kiss.

"Sasami..."

"Yes?"

"Is something wrong?"

"No." Sasami kept smiling, hoping that Shuzan would understand she was just playing. But Shuzan sighed and pursed his lips.

It seemed to Sasami that Shuzan got frustrated with her rather easily these days. Whenever they found the time and a quiet place where they could show affection without fear of interruption, Shuzan seemed to want to do a lot more than just kiss and be close. He was growing very interested in her body. Sasami was starting to feel a similar interest, and that was why she often teased him with what she knew he was interested in. But if she showed him things like that without allowing him to explore a bit, he sometimes got snippy.

"Oh, don't pout." Sasami gave Shuzan a quick peck on the lips before crawling out of his reach. She sat up on her haunches and, smiling at Shuzan for effect, she reached up and undid a third button on her shirt, just because she knew he liked to see a little bit of her growing cleavage. She had one more button available after that. but if she undid that one, things would really be hanging out.

Shuzan took a brief look at what Sasami was showing him. He then looked at how she was smiling. It really excited him when she smiled at him that way. He started to crawl closer. But Sasami jumped to her feet and ran a couple of steps away.

"Hey." Shuzan looked darkly at Sasami, thinking that she was going to tease him yet again.

Sasami stopped and turned around, grinning devilishly.

"Can't catch me!"

The taunt worked. Shuzan jumped up and came running. Squealing with impish delight, Sasami sprinted for the nearest copse of trees. Shuzan was bigger, stronger, and faster than her. She had no chance of escaping out in the open. Her only chance was to use the foliage and nearby stream to their fullest advantage.

Making a quick turn around the trunk of a large cherry tree, Sasami tried to double back. Shuzan saw what she was doing and made a grab for her. But he was going too fast. Sasami screeched with mock fright as Shuzan's fingers grazed the collar of her shirt.

"Missed!"

Sprinting hard, she made for the red covered bridge that spanned a nearby small stream. If she could make it to the other side, she could hide out of sight while Shuzan ran by. Unfortunately, the bridge was longer than it looked. She heard his feet pounding on the wooden planks behind her. Then, about half-way across his arms went around her waist. She screeched as he used his strength to pick her up and hold her off the ground.

"Put me down!" Sasami squealed with all the false indignation that she could muster.

"Will you run away again?"

"Yes!"

"Then no, I won't put you down. Not until you promise not to run away anymore."

Sasami folded her arms across her chest and pouted.

"Fine."

"Do you promise?"

"Yes, I promise."

As agreed Shuzan set her down. But he did not release her. It was a good thing, too. Sasami promptly tried to twist and squirm out of his grip. She tried sitting down out of his arms, and when that didn't work, she popped her hips forward, nearly breaking Shuzan's grip. But he somehow managed to hold on. Sasami slowly came to the realization that he really wasn't going to let her go. Sighing, she stopped squirming.

"Okay. You got me."

"Finally." Shuzan breathed in relief.

"Now that you have me, what are you going to do with me?"

"How about this?" Shuzan placed his mouth and nose right next to Sasami's neck.

"Naughty boy." Sasami teased. But that was all right. It was part of the game. She let him nuzzle up to her as a reward for capturing her. Before long she was thinking that perhaps she should let him catch her more frequently.

When Shuzan began to relax his grip around her waist, Sasami reached up and set her hand on the back of Shuzan's head pulling his mouth directly against her neck. With her other hand, she followed Shuzan's arm until she found his hand and slipped her fingers between his. Squeezing tightly, she sighed contentedly as Shuzan's soft lips gently stroked her neck.

"Shuzan, I really like what you're doing. But, maybe we should stop."

Shuzan stopped only long enough to express his dislike for her suggestion.

"I'd rather not."

"We... have to stop some time."

"Do we?"

Sasami paused for a moment. Shuzan sounded very serious. But it was too difficult to think when he was doing things that made her feel so good.

"Shuzan, you're getting me all worked-up."

"That's the idea."

"Really?"

"Nn." Shuzan kissed her firmly on the neck again.

"But..." Sasami sighed with pleasure. "I'm not... I'm still just a girl."

"Not to me."

Sasami's face went beet red. She hadn't realized that he was so serious about her.

"Really?"

Shuzan ran his tongue up the side of Sasami's neck, sending a shiver up her spine.

"Yes."

Sasami stood absolutely still. She wasn't at all sure how to deal with this. It was fun and felt good to be close to Shuzan. She liked kissing and cuddling with him. But it sounded to her like Shuzan wanted a more adult relationship. This was a bit more than what she felt she was ready for. As all this was going through her head, she felt Shuzan slowly run the fingers of his free right hand along the waist band of her shorts. She let him continue until he tried to slip his fingertips between her and her shorts. She reached down quickly and grabbed his hand.

"Don't."

"All right." Shuzan complied withdrawing his hand a bit. "I won't do anything you don't want me to."

Sasami felt a little reassured to hear that.

"That's good."

"But that doesn't change how I feel about you." Shuzan placed another kiss on Sasami's neck to reassure her he meant what he said.

Sasami closed her eyes as she tried to understand how Shuzan was making her feel. She really like what he was doing, and she really like him. She liked being close to him this way. But the last thing she wanted was for their already beautiful relationship to fall apart. She needed to do something to address this situation, but nothing came to mind. Of course, it wasn't exactly easy to think normally when her boyfriend was sucking on her neck.

For a short time she just let it go on. As long as he kept to approved activities like this, there wasn't a problem. Shuzan wriggled his fingers loose from hers and proceeded to gently stroke her exposed belly. Her stomach jumped when he touched a sensitive spot. They both giggled at the involuntary movement. Touching this way was sweet and plenty exciting enough for Sasami. In fact, it excited her quite a bit. She tilted her head back, exposing her neck for more.

But before long, as things began to heat up again, Shuzan placed his hands flat on her flanks and slowly ran them up her front. It was fine and felt wonderful until she realized that he wasn't going to stop at her ribs. He went right up the sides of her chest under her arms and tried to wriggle his fingers under her shirt. Sasami quickly grabbed both of his hands.

"Shuzan, don't!" Frustrated, she turned around to address him in a serious manner. "Why do you keep doing that?"

"Doing what?" Shuzan stared at her in surprise.

Sasami started feeling mad that Shuzan didn't understand how it made her feel when he tried something that she wasn't ready for.

"You know what!"

Shuzan stood silently for a little while as he contemplated what Sasami was saying.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize I was making you uncomfortable. Please don't be mad."

Sasami's frustration cooled considerably at Shuzan's kind words.

"I... guess. It's just that... I don't want to mess things up! We're such good friends right now, and I really like being close to you." Sasami moved back into Shuzan's arms and slung arms over his shoulders. "I really like you."

Shuzan put his arms around Sasami, smiling.

"And I really like you, Sasami."

"Really?"

"Yes. Very much."

Sasami stood still, simply enjoying the feel of Shuzan's tender embrace. But she still felt that there was pressure from him to move on to a serious relationship. Somehow, she doubted that things would stay the way they were. It was only natural, after all.

"Shuzan, I don't think I'm ready for, um... a serious relationship."

"Oh? Then what do you call this?"

"Um..." Sasami was trying hard to find a way to describe exactly the nature of her relationship with Shuzan. "I don't know."

"For me, this is very serious." Shuzan admitted tightening his hold around Sasami for a moment before relaxing. "I got something for you."

"For me?" Sasami asked pulled back far enough so that she could see Shuzan's face.

"Yes." Letting go of Sasami, Shuzan dug into one pocket of his shorts and pulled something out. He held his hand up and opened it, revealing a diamond-encrusted pendant in the shape of a heart, suspended from a thin gold chain.

"Oh, Shuzan..." Tears began to blur Sasami's vision as her heart fluttered joyfully in her chest, her earlier concerns forgotten.

"May I?" Now that Shuzan was looking right into Sasami's eyes, she felt no doubt that although he was serious about her, he meant it in an honorable way.

"Of course, you may." Sasami turned around so that Shuzan could place the pendant around her neck. He reached around to the front of her throat and pulled the two ends of the piece of jewelry around her neck until they met in the back. He fiddled with the clasp for a minute, mating the ends together. Sasami turned around again and looked into his eyes.

"It's beautiful."

Shuzan shook his head.

"Not as beautiful as you."

For several seconds Sasami and Shuzan simply stared into each others' eyes, glorying in the attention and feelings that they shared. When Sasami felt Shuzan slipping his arms around her waist again, she suddenly leaned forward and kissed him.

This was no mere peck of affection. This time, Sasami felt the full-force of desire flowing through her body. She kissed Shuzan long and hard, and he responded affirmatively by wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly to his chest. Sasami gasped as Shuzan's arms coiled around her, squeezing her so tightly that she could barely breathe. But that pressure just made it all the more passionate.

Sasami redoubled her efforts, adding her own meager strength to the power of their embrace. She ran her fingers through Shuzan's hair, holding his face planted firmly to hers while she pressed her body to his as with as much pressure as she could. One of Shuzan's hands slid down her backside and grabbed a handful of her rear. Sasami squeeked in surprise as shiver ran through her body. After a moment, she decided that she rather like it, and made no attempt to dissuade him.

Now that she and Shuzan had taken this step, she could no longer deny that they were a couple. This meant that there was another issue that had to be addressed; her hair. If not for Shuzan, Sasami would probably would have let her hair down months ago, then sat back and watched the spectacle. However, she cared a great deal for Shuzan, and did not want to subject him to the resulting courtship duels. Unfortunately, people were beginning to talk. It was viewed as inappropriate for a girl (as she appeared with her hair up) to be involved with a young man. So, she had no choice but to make the change if she wanted to be as close to Shuzan physically as she felt emotionally. Carefully, and with some regret, Sasami tried to put a little bit of space between herself and Shuzan.

"Shuzan, wait."

"For what?" He briefly asked before trying to kiss her again.

"Hey, hold on. I have to do something."

Although Shuzan seemed reluctant to stop, he did. While he waited with his hands on her waist, Sasami reached up and began to take the bands that held her pony-tails together out of her hair.

"Shuzan, you're a prince of the Royal Family. You do know how to use a sword, right?"

"I started training when I was little. But my brother always beat me, so I gave it up."

As the left side of Sasami's long hair fell free, her hands faltered.

"Please, don't say that."

"But, you know what? After I met you at Lord Gohgei and Lady Asahi's wedding, I decided to take it up again. I've been practicing every day since then, and now my brother can't beat me so easily."

"That's good." Sasami said, relieved. "But you'd better keep practicing. I'm a princess, and if you want me to stay your girlfriend, you're going to have to win every time." The right side of her hair fell free.

"I know. I just wish there was someone else to train with. Brother is always at the college giving classes, or grading assignments, or something. Finding a Jurai swordmaster here isn't exactly easy."

"I'll ask Tenchi to train with you."

Shuzan seemed surprised at the suggestion.

"Lord Tenchi is a swordmaster?"

"Well, I don't know if he's a master. But he trained under Brother Yosho for his entire life."

That seemed to impress Shuzan a great deal.

"Oh! Then he must be an exceptional swordsman. But, would he really do that for me?"

"Yes. He's very honorable. I know that if I ask him to train you, he will."

Shuzan's arms tightened around Sasami's waist.

"Thank you, Sasami."

The object of his affection smiled.

"It's my pleasure." Sasami answered as Shuzan slid his fingers along the band of bare skin just above Sasami's shorts. The girl quivered with delight as a shiver of pleasure ran up her spine.

"We... um, left the food out."  
With a small grin, Shuzan slowly shook his head.

"Don't worry about the food."

Sasami blushed furiously as Shuzan kissed her again. This time, she didn't feel quite so reluctant.

Sasami took her shoes off before setting foot on the recently installed wooden floors of her new home at the Galaxy Academy. The natural colors were a pleasant change from all the grays and whites of the stone flooring that had preceded it. For the moment, her hair was still down. She had very literally never had it cut in the rear, which meant it would actually drag on the ground if she did not have the two hair bands holding it in a fold that kept it at half its normal length. The next order of business was a trim.

"Sasami?" Aeka called to her sister from the next room.

"Yes, Sister?"

"Will you be making dinner this evening?"

Sasami smiled. She wanted to cook an entire feast. But it was getting close to dinner time, and she did not have enough time for that. Something simple, yet elegant, was in order.

"Yes."

Aeka entered the hallway, intending to relate the reasons for her line of questioning.

"That's good. The head chef has taken ill and..." Then she noticed Sasami had finally taken her hair down. The two sisters stood face-to-face, just looking at each other for almost a minute until Aeka showed a small smile.

"Very well. You have mail, Sister."

Sasami showed a great deal of surprise.

"Really?"

"Of course."

Sasami's intuition began to tingle.

"Oh, no. Already?"

Aeka adopted a very formal posture as she informed her younger sibling of her recent mail receipts.

"Since my sister's thirteenth birthday, she has received eight marriage proposals."

**"TENCHI!"**

END.

AFTERWORD: A little disjointed, wasn't it? Sorry. Like I said, it's one main story with several short parts joined together.


	26. A Slight Imposition

**INVASION, Volume 3, Part 10:**** A Slight Imposition.**

DISCLAIMER: Tenchi Muyou! is copyright AIC/Pioneer, LDC. I claim no rights to it. However, the events in this story are entirely of my own imagination. So please don't change them.

FOREWORD: My sincere apologies for the incredible delay on getting out this final chapter of Volume 3.

AUTHOR: Dreamr

LAST REVISION: 08 June 2007

BEGIN.

Until recently, Seto Kamiki had enjoyed simply cruising around the galaxy putting the fear of Jurai into the various space-pirate guilds. It was simple yet rewarding work for her. But things change, and even the devil-princess of Jurai had to adapt.

Reclining on a couch on the bridge of her ship, Mikagami, Seto was having a rather boring conversation with Funaho and Misaki via long-distance secure teleconference on how to drum up more public and political support for increased military production in response to the growing border incursions when an urgent chiming broke into the conversation on Seto's end giving her an excuse to step out of the conversation for a few moments.

"I'll take that." Seto announced into the open air.

The large holographic window suspended in the air before Seto for the conversation with Funaho and Misaki shrank into the background and was was replaced by another. A small red indicator in the lower right corner of the new window indicated that the channel was on a specially-coded channel that only a very few people even knew existed.

"Hello?"

A burst of static assaulted Seto's eardrums before she heard a man's voice through the interference.

"-ady Seto! Than- dness!"

Despite the poor quality of the audio, the man's voice was easily recognizable as her old friend, Yotsuga Kazuki.

"Yotsuga? Is that you? What's all that noise?"

"We -- attack! -- too many to stop! The GP -- best, but..."

For a moment, the audio cleared a bit, allowing Seto to hear what was really going on. It wasn't static, but the sounds of combat that were interfering with the sound.

Yotsuga Kazuki, former Galaxy Police Detective and recently-elected governor of the unaligned but strategically and economically important Freeport Space Colony, was the father of the current King of Jurai. His wife, Amame, was once a princess of the Masaki branch of the Jurai royal family until she left the royal family to marry the man she had fallen in love with eight hundred years ago. Now they lived on that free space colony. Seto often visited her friends to say hello and assure them that their son was doing well even if Azusa rarely called or paid them any visits.

Unfortunately for Freeport, this incident put Seto in a rather difficult position. Jurai had no jurisdiction in free or unaligned space. The Galaxy Police had an agreement with Freeport and as such kept a strong presence on the colony due to its importance. But the local garrison was more of a police force than a military one, and would not be able to withstand a full-scale assault for an extended period of time. Reinforcements would require time to arrive. Although, that didn't mean she could just ignore a legitimate distress call.

A sudden explosion blasted Seto's ears. Much to her dismay, the communication was audio only. She had no idea how dire the situation might be.

"Yotsuga! Are you all right?"

There was a brief delay, then the man answered.

"Yes, I- still here."

"Here they come!" An anonymous voice yelling in the background came through the connection.

The noise level grew considerably as the sounds of heavy assault weapons followed.

"They're bouncing off!" Someone yelled.

"Oh, God, we're gonna die!" Another person screamed.

"Impossible!" Yotuga shouted. "That person's dead! These must just be copies!"

"Yotsuga!" Seto shouted into the communications link. "What's going on there? I have no video!"

"Clones! There must be a hundred of them!"

"Clones? What do you mean?" Seto demanded as paniced screams began to filter throught he noises of combat.

"I can't -elieve --. -- Eternal Ultra Cla-s A -- Ka--" Yotsuga's reply was cut-off short by another much closer explosion.

"Yotsuga!"

There was no reply.

"Respond!"

There was a brief sound of something cracking and breaking, then the line went dead.

Seto looked around the bridge of her ship in shock. It took a lot to rattle her. But the apparent loss of Freeport Colony and two very good friends that she had thought were safely ensconced in a free area under the watchful eye of both Jurai and the Galaxy Police was a real shock.

With a start, Seto realized that at some point during the transmission, she had stood up. Sitting down with a thump, Lady Seto Kamiki noticed that one of her charges, Minaho, was very carefully looking away from everyone. Seto always brought Minaho with her when she visited Yotsuga and Amame. Besides being family, they were also good friends. Speaking of family...

Directing her attention inwards, Seto instructed her tree, Mikagami, to establish a direct mental connection with Azusa through Kirito. The avenue of tree-speak, as the royal fmaily liked to call it, was the only communications channel secure enough for this news. Jurai's dealings with Freeport Colony were totally unofficial and always through either Yotsuga or Amame. Certain parties both inside and outside of the colony would happily expose the relationship for a variety of reasons, most of them detrimental to Jurai's public reputation and policies.

_"Azusa-chan."_

The response from the king was fairly quick.

_"What is so important that it cannot be relayed through normal communications?"_

The other reason for requesting this kind of link was the incidental information that it revealed, such as the participants' physical location. Seto already knew that Azusa was currently touring some of the empire's military posts on the outer fringes of it's territory. But now, through the link, she knew he was relatively close to the endangered space station. Azusa always prefered a down-and-dirty inspection rather than an unrevealing public relations spectacle.

_"Freeeport Colony is under heavy attack. They require immediate assistance."_

This time the response was not so quick in coming. It was likely that Azusa was also checking on the locations of other tree-ships. The king's response was very easy to predict. The love that he held for his parents was very strong, even if he was somewhat neglectful of his filial duties. Luckily for Freeport, Azusa Masaki possessed the second most powerful ship in the galaxy, and he was the closest Jurai ship to the colony.

_"I'm on my way."_ Azusa severed the connection so abruptly that Seto actually recoiled in surprise.

"How rude." For a moment she considered sending him a message berating him for his lack of manners. But there were more important things to deal with. There were others who needed to be informed. Link number two would be with Lady Funaho.

Azusa knew precisely where Freeport Colony was located. He had lived there with his parents from birth until the age of eight. It was his original home. But more importantly, his parents still lived there.

Only a a brief thought directed towards his tree was required for Kirito to literally snatch up Azusa from his tour of the military facility and transport him to the bridge of his ship. He gave no warnings or cautions as Kirito powered-up. Anyone who got in the way was was just out of luck.

Several smaller ships scrambled to get out of the way as Azusa broke several traffic laws and regulations by blasting away from the station at full-power without heed for any of the vessels who had right-of-way. The drivers of the smaller craft panicked and veered out of his way while directing profound curses at the massive battleship and it's captain. Picking up speed, Azusa commanded the ship to jump directly into the vicinity of Freeport without regard for the recommended safety distances for that mode of travel. The transition from normal-space to hyper-space and back again took only moments.

As soon as Kirito emerged from hyper-space, Azusa started barking out orders to the terminal operators that would normally have accompanied him into battle. When no one responded, Azusa recalled that he had left in such a hurry that he had left his retinue behind. Luckily for him, Kirito was not only powerful, but intelligent. The tree spontaneously overlayed tactical information on the spacial display panels that covered the inside of the core unit. There were a great deal of red boxes swarming around the battered station, and the few remaining blue boxes were flashing quickly, indicating that they were in danger of imminent destruction.

Looking at the number and type of enemy ships, Azusa saw that they were indeed the same forces that have been probing and intruding into Jurai space for the last couple of years. Although there were a great many of them, with the power of a first-generation royal tree at his disposal, Azusa felt confident that Kirito could win this battle without suffering any significant damage.

As he was using this brief moment to decide on a course of action, a 10-centimeter red sphere came floating through the air towards Azusa. This small sphere was Kirito's terminal unit; a small interface that most humanoids much prefered to interact with rather than an inanimate tree. It slowed as it approached what Kirito considered a polite distance.

"There is an emergency communication." The floating sphere spoke in a polite male voice.

"Audio." Azusa growled.

"Jurai ship!" A panicked male voice screamed at him. "Please help us! We're dying down here!"

"Calm yourself!" The king commanded. "With whom do I speak?"

"Ka-Katsumi Nagami." The terrified person managed.

"Mister Nagami, what is the situation on the station?"

"We've been boarded! There's clone-fighters everywhere! Please, sir! Help us!"

"What of the governor and the GP forces?"

"Dead! They're all dead! The clones killed them all! In the name of Tsunami, save us!"

Azusa's right eyebrow twitched to hear the report of his father's demise. He tried to remind himself that the source of the report, a frightened station resident, might not be the most reliable source.

Trying to put aside his personal concerns as best he could for the time being, Azusa considered the situation. The man's report indicated that the station itself was already over-run. But the emergency communication proved that there were still innocent people alive within. The situation required that he remove the enemy presence from the station's interior, while also preventing further intrusions. He would have to engage the enemy at close-quarters while his ship dealt with the enemy presence outside. Azusa wouldn't have it any other way. But there was still something that the warriors' code, and his honor, required him to do.

"Intership communications." Azusa commanded. "All frequencies."

"All channels are open." Kirito's terminal unit informed Azusa as he cleared his throat.

"Attention attacking forces! Behold Azusa Masaki Jurai, owner of the first generation ship Kirito, King of the Holy Empire of Jurai, and commander of all of its military might!"

Wild cheers immediately erupted from the emergency comm-link that he had intentionally left open.

"Surrender at once or be destroyed!"

There was no audio response from the opposing vessels. But they did suddenly begin wheeling through space on an apparent intercept course. It seemed he had his answer.

"So be it. Kirito! Engage at your discretion. Transport me to the source of the emergency transmission."

Reaching up to his neck, Azusa pinched the small red gem at his collar. The robes and mantle of the King of Jurai dissolved in a wave of white light and were instantaneously replaced by his personal suit of Jurai battle armor. Suitably garbed for taking revenge on those who were attacking his family and home, the angry man drew his sword.

It was the last day of exams before the end of the fall semester. In a gesture of support, Tenchi and Aeka, with Hiroshi slung on her back, had gone to meet Ryoko as she exited her exam on Quantum Mechanics. Once they were home, they intended to plan what to do for their first wedding anniversary.

As they entered the place they called home, an unusual combination of voices greeted them. Following the voices into the guest room, they found Headmaster Washu having tea with the King of Jurai. Needless to say, Aeka felt quite surprised to see her father lounging around the Galaxy Academy.

"Father!"

Azusa turned in his chair to verify that it was indeed his daughter who has entered.

"Ah. Aeka. Good." Azusa stood up before continuing so that he would appear more of an authority figure. His next commands would require it. "Pack your things. We're leaving."

For a moment, Aeka just stood there staring at her father in shock. Then she remembered she was Tenchi's wife, and that her father could no longer command her to leave him.

"I'm very sorry, but I'm afraid that won't be possible. I am Lord Tenchi's wife. If you require my presence on Jurai, you will have to ask him."

Azusa seemed so unconcerned at her reply, that Aeka began to wonder if he was planning something excessive.

"Very well. I anticipated you would be unwilling to leave. Therefore I have already arranged quarters for your husband and son in the palace. Tenchi, you will prepare your family for departure to Jurai, immediately."

"Uh..." Tenchi stuttered a bit as he tried to come up with a sufficiently polite way to refuse the requirement. "We were kind of planning on coming back for classes next semester."

"I have already had your names removed from the Academy's rosters."

"What?!" Everyone exclaimed in shock.

Ryoko jumped in front of the king when she heard that all her hard work had suddenly been erased at the whim of someone she was not especially fond of. In fact, she was absolutely livid.

"Who the Hell do you think you are!? I busted my ass for the last two years, and you just come and make it all disappear!?"

Azusa stared down his nose at the angry young lady.

"As far as I'm concerned, you may stay behind. However, since Aeka will not return without Tenchi and Hiroshi, and Tenchi will most likely not go without you, I had no choice."

"You could'a just left us alone!"

"No, I could not!"

Seeing that Ryoko confrontational approach was not getting them anywhere, Aeka decided to simply ask what was going on.

"Father, I assume there is a good reason for all of this."

Washu, who had been sitting quietly in an over-stuffed chair sipping green tea, finally made her presence known.

"Maybe you should tell them what's going on?"

"Has something happened?" Looking around, it suddenly occured to Aeka that Misaki and Funaho were not around. "Are Mother or Lady Funaho not well?"

"They are fine. However..." Contemplating how best to break the news to his elder daughter, Azusa folded his arms over his chest.

Impatient as always, Ryoko decided a little prompting was in order.

"Come on , come on, I ain't got all day."

His eyes narrowing with barely restrained anger, Azusa's response was direct, to the point, and very rude.

"Silence, demon-beast!"

The King's voice was so fiery that Ryoko actually recoiled in shock.

"Gee-man! What's with you?"

"Shush!" Aeka hissed at both of them, hoping that Hiroshi had somehow managed to sleep though the raised voices. "Hiroshi is sleeping!"

"He thinks the Academy defenses aren't good enough." Washu mumbled from within her cup of tea. "Don't mind the fact that the defense net around here is two hundred years newer than Jurai's."

Washu's statement directed Aeka's attention to some very unpleasant places. She had been hearing some very strange rumors about the Jurai Empire lately.

"Father, I've been hearing strange rumors lately. Some people think Jurai is going to war."

A low grumble slowly rolling from deep within the King's throat was his only reply. For the first time in centuries, Azusa felt uncertain of himself. He much prefered a direct and truthful approach. Dealing with deep personal feelings, his own or others', tended to be difficult for him.

Washu watched the interpersonal play out of the corner of her eye. Though she prefered to keep out of family affairs, it seemed Azusa needed a little bit of encouragement before he would spit out what needed to be said.

"Maybe we should turn on the news?"

"No." The king quickly responded. "That won't be necessary." Taking a deep breath, Azusa did things as he always did. "Freeport Colony has been attacked."

"Freeport?" Aeka asked her eyes going wide with concern. "That's practically on our doorstep!"

Azusa nodded gravely. "The colony was severely damaged and... there were many casualties."

"Grandmother and Grandfather?" Aeka worriedly asked clutching at the collar of her summer kimono. But before her father could give the answer , the front door opened again. Sasami announced her return from school as she dropped her book-bag just inside the front door.

"I'm home."

Aeka called for her sister.

"Sasami, would you come into the sitting room, please?"

"Sure, Aeka. What's..." As soon as Sasami saw her father she smiled and ran to greet him.

"Daddy!" Sasami crossed the room in three long strides and threw her arms around her father's neck.

Azusa was very surprised when he saw how much his younger daughter had grown since the last time he had seen her. He was especially surprised when he noticed that she had taken her hair down. Once his younger daughter finally released him, he was able to hold her at arm's length so that he could get a better look at her.

"Sasami. You... have grown."

Sasami's smile grew even wider at hearing his acknowledgement of her increase in stature.

"Yes, I have."

"I am pleased that you are well. However, we cannot dwell on greetings. You must pack your things."

Sasami's smile disappeared.

"What?"

Aeka tried to gain her father's attention.

"Um, Father?"

Azusa, being somewhat single-minded in his intentions, failed to hear his elder daughter.

"We're all going back to Jurai, together."

Sasami instantly leapt away from him as if he had a contagious disease.

"No!"

"Sasami, this is for your own safety."

"I don't want to go back!"

Dismayed by his younger daughter's objection to his well-meant decision, Azusa did as he always did; he tried to pull rank.

"It is not a request! You are returning to Jurai, and there will be no arguments!"

"I don't care! Why do you always do this? Why do you always have to come and ruin things?!"

"Sasami! That is quite enough!"

"No, it's not! I can't go! I can't!"

"You most certainly can." Azusa turned his most imposing stare on his younger daughter. "Even if I have to drag you kicking and screaming all the way."

Sasami's eyes widened for a split second before she bolted for the door. She was out of the house and down the walkway before anyone could even consider stopping her.

"Sasami!"

"Forget it." Ryoko said from beside him, where she had just teleported. "She's on the track team."

"Ridiculous! She is my daughter and I will have her safe."

Aeka groaned as Hiroshi finally awoke, no doubt due to all the racket they were making. The young child rubbed his eyes before taking a look around. He began to babble and burble enthusiastically when he saw familiar faces.

"Tenchi, would you, please?"

"Sure." As he was used to such requests, Tenchi understood Aeka wanted him to pull their son from his carry pack. The little boy reached out to his father with an excited smile. Recalling that his father-in-law had yet to actually meet Hiroshi, Tenchi decided that the bad news could wait for a few minutes.

"Aeka, don't we have an introduction to make?"

"Yes! That's right. Father, this is your grandson, Hiroshi."

Azusa looked down at the dark-haired baby in Tenchi's arms. He had seen the pictures they had sent to Jurai. A day did not go by that Misaki did not show the pictures to someone. She was so incredibly proud of her daughter and the new baby.

"Would you care to hold him, Father?"

Azusa stole a quick glance at Aeka, who smiled. He tentatively held out his arms, and received from Tenchi his new grandson. The small child stared at him as he cradled him. It had been a long time since the King had held a baby in his arms. It brought back memories of his own children, and the love he felt for them. His expression soon softened, and he smiled. Hiroshi smiled right back. With quick hands, the baby boy grabbed his beard and pulled hard.

"AHH! Take him, take him, take him!"

Tenchi immediately reached for Hiroshi while Aeka pried his chubby fingers from Azusa's hair.

"Hiroshi, stop that!" Aeka scolded her son. "I am so sorry, Father. We are trying to break him of that habit. But, he seems to have an affinity for long hair."

"Tell me about it." Ryoko casually picked at the gob of honey that was still stuck in her hair as Tenchi gestured to the various places one could sit in the large living space.

"Maybe we should all have a seat. I see someone made tea. That was thoughtful."

"Good idea." Washu agreed as she got up rather than remaining seated. "But we're about out. I'll just take Hiroshi with me and make some more. Family talk and all that."

"Thanks, Washu-chan." Tenchi gratefully handed his son to Washu. But Hiroshi didn't seem to want any of that. He reached back towards Tenchi, stretching as far as he could in Washu's arms.

"Da-da-da!"

"Hey, now." Tenchi waved with a smile as Washu walked towards the door that led to the kitchen. "It's just for a few minutes."

Realizing that he wasn't getting anywhere by appealing to his father, Hiroshi, imitating something he had seen Washu doing once, started scolding her by waving a hand in her face.

"Ba-ba-ba-ba!"

"Hey! Who you calling an old lady?" Washu pointedly looked over at Ryoko, wondering if the girl had somehow manged to teach Hiroshi to say such a thing.

"What? What'd I do?" Ryoko tried to glare back at Washu. But with Hiroshi acting so silly, she found it difficult to keep an angry expression on her face. Rather than looking mad, she only ended up looking sheepish.

"Ryoko." Tenchi called for his wife's attention.

"What?"

"Let's sit and hear what the King has to say."

Not wanting to acquiesce too easily, even though she had no intention of ignoring Tenchi's suggestion, Ryoko pursed her lips for a moment before agreeing.

"Fine." With an overblown huff, she made a quick teleport over to the same over-stuffed chair that Washu had been sittingin and plopped down into it.

Azusa, rather than sitting, turned to the front of the room so that he could look out the large bay-style window with his hands clasped behind his back as Tenchi and Aeka both sat down. Once everyone was peacefully situated, Tenchi prompted him to explain.

"Father, I'm sure everyone is ready to hear what you have to say."

Azusa stood silently for another few seconds staring at the greenery while contemplating how to break the news to Aeka. Finally, he simply sighed and did as he always did.

"My mother and father are dead."

Aeka gasped in shock, despite the certain feeling of dread that she had been feeling for the last few minutes. Her eyes promptly began to well-up with tears, not just for herself, but for her father. Gods above, how could he take this so calmly?

"Father..."

"My father was recently elected as governor of Freeport Station. He and mother died defending the residents of that station."

Aeka took a deep breath to stave of the tears as Tenchi put a comforting arm around her shoulders. There was something she wanted to know.

"Were they successful?"

"With their lives, they bought enough time until I arrived."

Aeka nodded as she wiped at her nose. Her father's presence in the conflict instantly assured the remaining colonists' survival. It was a small consolation for one bereaved family, but an important one for the families of those spared.

"Then the pirates were destroyed?"

"Pirates, no. This was no act of piracy. This was an invasion."

Ryoko actually snorted at the concept of someone trying to invade Jurai space.

"Someone out there must be really stupid. Even I didn't mess around in Jurai space unless I absolutely had to."

Azusa turned back to the three and nodded in agreement.

"Indeed. However, these are the same robotic vessels we fought outside of Professor Washu's abandoned laboratory."

That got everyone's attention.

"What about my lab?" Washu asked as she made her return with Hiroshi on one arm and a steaming pot of tea held out well away from the young child in the other hand.

"Ah. There is something I believe will interest you, Professor." Glad to be off the subject of his painful personal loss, Azusa reached into his mantel and withdrew a palm-sized holographic data display. He pressed the display button with one finger while holding the device flat in his up-turned palm. The display's emitters began to glow, projecting an image of a chain of DNA in the air above it. The image slowly rotated for better viewing.

"Professor Washu,"

"Washu-chan." The red-head interrupted, insisting on the diminuitive form.

"Er, Washu-chan," Azusa grimaced at using the odd form of address on someone so much older than himself, " what can you tell me about this DNA pattern?"

"Here." Washu handed Hiroshi off to Ryoko, who happened to be closest, before taking a peek at what the king had to show. "Well, that would be... male... good-build... huh?" Leaning a bit closer just to make sure she wasn't misreading the pattern, Washu took another closer look. "Where'd you get this?"

"It was taken from a... very recently deceased living being."

Washu stood there with her arms crossed and eyes closed as she contemplated this developement.

"It's Kagato, isn't it?" Ryoko asked looking rather smug.

"Was." Azusa corrected.

"Well!" Ryoko grinned. "That takes care of that."

"No, it doesn't." Pressing the advance button on the small projector, Azusa displayed a short video clip of the interior of Freeport Station during the invasion attempt. Jaws dropped at the sight of many Kagatos running around with blank stares and drab-colored jumpsuits, rather than the fashionable robes and spectacles that they were expecting. Ryoko actually came to her feet with a wild look in her eyes and Hiroshi squirming uncomfortably in her arms.

"No way..."

Seeing a potentially perilous situation developing, Tenchi got up to relieve Ryoko of her young burden.

"Ryoko, that's my son you're sqeezing to death."

Ryoko looked at Tenchi and then down at the gasping little child. She quickly let-off the pressure, allowing Tenchi to take Hiroshi, who practically jumped out of her arms for the safety of his father's embrace. He peered over his shoulder at Ryoko with a rare frown.

"Sorry."

"Somebody..." Washu reached out and snatched the display unit from the King's hand, "has some explaining to do."

"Damn right!" Ryoko quickly agreed. "Who wants a couple thousand of that guy running around!"

"I agree completely." Aeka sniffled from her place on the couch. "That man was a truly despicable person. What fool would create copies of him?"

"They're probably clones." Washu pointed out. "Hey, you didn't happen to get DNA samples from more than one?"

"We did." Azusa confirmed. "They are all identical. Thus, we agree with your theory of these being clones. The remaining question is who had the opportunity to obtain Kagato's DNA?"

Although no one was pointing fingers, Washu felt obligated to at least admit that she had had plenty of opportunity.

"Well, Kagato was my assistant for some time. I had plenty of opportunity to get a sample of his DNA and often did so. But I wouldn't make copies of him, that's for sure."

"I see." Azusa looked down of Washu with a thoughtful expression. He had an ace up his sleeve for once. It was about time he played it. Literally reaching into his sleeve, the King removed an aged old photograph and held it down where Washu couldn't fail to see it.

"And what of this person?"

Washu took one look at the photo and began to dissemble.

"Nifty."

"Would you care to explain?"

"Not really." Washu looked away feigning a lack of interest.

"I see. Perhaps I can jog your memory. The woman's name is Naja Akara, one in a seemingly endless line of your former assistants. However, this woman was not just an assistant. She was your academy sponsor."

"Even I was a student at some point." Washu blithely remarked.

"Very well. I'll be blunt."

"Like that'll make a difference." Washu commenced to picking wax out of her right ear.

"Why do Kagato and this woman look alike?"

"I don't know. Maybe... because... they're related?"

"A-ha!"

"'A-ha!' what?"

"So there is a connection."

"They're related. So what?"

"So..." Azusa came to a stumbling halt as he realized that there really was no point to the relation.

"Any other questions you'd like to ask? My age and weight perhaps?"

"Uh, no." Even Azusa knew better than that.

"Good. Now how about we get down to some real business?"

Preserving as much of his dignity as possible, the King of Jurai folded his arms in a commanding fashion before giving his permission to move on.

"Very well."

"Excellent!" Washu nearly cheered. "First order of business, I think I'll hold on to this genetic data and analyze it for you, although I assume you were able to defeat all those clones, right?"

His eyes widening in an obviously aggressive manner, Azusa nodded in firm agreement as a low rumble emanated from his throat.

"Okay. Second, I wish you luck in getting Sasami to see the logic in bundling her up and bringing her back to Jurai."

Washu's sudden change of subject from the clones to Sasami caught Azusa slightly off guard.

"Is there a problem?"

"Well, there's this teentsie-eentsie little issue that came up. Not a problem, just an issue, really. You see..." Washu's very slight and small voice slowly drew Azusa in closer until he was within range of her ultimate weapon. "SHE'S IN LOVE!"

Azusa nearly fell back on his rear at the force of Washu's verbal proclamation.

"In love? With whom?" Realization of the truth suddenly dawned upon Azusa. "Ah, wait. It can't be..."

"Shuzan Amaki. I believe you know him."

Azusa's face began to turn a very dark crimson-red. "If he has so much as laid a finger on my daughter, I will cut-off his hands and send them to his family as a parting gift before I personally annihilate them!"

With a flourish of his great cape, the King turned to go retrieve his daughter from the clutches of imagined evil.

"Oh, for heaven's sake." Aeka quietly grumbled before finally getting to her feet. "Father..."

Azusa turned to look at Aeka, revealing the thunder in his eyes and lighting in his bared teeth.

With a squeek of fright, Aeka promptly forgot about what she was going to say. The angry father stalked off and out the front door without another word. The small group looked after him with concern etched into their features.

"Aeka?" Tenchi asked.

"Yes?"

"You don't suppose he's going to do something... rash, do you?"

"No, of course not. My father is the picture of controlled rational thought."

A deep grumble (for a young female) emanted from Washu's throat.

"He did lose both his parents recently."

"Yes." Aeka morosely agreed.

"He seems really over-protective." Ryoko observed.

"Yes."

"Maybe we'd better follow him?" Tenchi suggested.

"Yes." Aeka agreed again. "Washu-chan?"

"What?" Washu while staring at the rotating image of a certain evil person's DNA.

"Would you watch after Hiroshi for a few minutes?"

Washu immediately turn-off the holographic device and smiled, happy to be diverted from some potentially distasteful research.

"Why, certainly! Since you did ask me so nicely."

As soon as the front door to the Amaki residence opened, Sasami blew right by the butler and launched herself up the grand staircase to Shuzan's rooms. Making a quick left at the top, she yanked open the first door and called for her boyfriend.

"Shuzan!"

Nothing. Running down the hall to the next door, she yanked that one open and called again.

"Shuzan!"

"Sasami."

Sasami looked right and saw Shuzan emerge from the adjoining door with a look of surprise. She dashed in and plowed the young lad over, landing completely on top of him.

"Hey!"

"My daddy hates me!" Sasami cried as she clutched at Shuzan.

"Wha?" Shuzan lay there for several seconds mystified about the cause of Sasami's tears. "What's going on?"

"My father came and says I have to leave!"

Now things were becoming clear.

"Wait a minute, Sasami. Why would he do that?"

"How should I know?! I hate him, I hate him, I HATE HIM!"

"Hey, come on, now. You don't hate your father."

"Yes, I do!" Sasami sobbed still lying on his chest.

"All right, enough of that. Here." Shuzan gently moved Sasami aside so that he could at least sit up. "Now, tell me what happened."

Sitting on the floor, Sasami explained the all too brief encounter with her father. Shuzan grumbled to himself once she was finished.

"This stinks."

"Yes, it does." Sasami agreed, wiping her eyes. "I don't want to leave."

"I don't want you to leave either. But there must be a good reason. You should have stayed to hear what it is."

"I don't care what it is!" Sasami threw herself against Shuzan again. "I want to stay here with you."

Shuzan sighed with regret as he put his arms around Sasami. It certainly sounded pretty bad.

"Come." Shuzan urged. "Let's sit someplace more comfortable."

Climbing back to his feet, Shuzan hauled Sasami up to her feet as well.

"I can't even come to your birthday party tonight." The girl lamented her situation.

"You shouldn't worry. It's just a stupid party."

"It's not stupid." Sasami disagreed. "I was even gonna bake you a cake."

"You don't have to do that, Sasami."

"But I want to. I want to do nice things for you."

"Don't worry about it. You got to make the last one."

"But that was different!"

"How so?"

Sasami frowned.

"It just is."

Shuzan smiled at the illogical statement. Sometimes, it just didn't pay to argue with a girl.

"All right."

"You don't believe me?"

"Well..."

"Fine. I'll prove it." With that pronouncement, Sasami grabbed Shuzan by the shirt and kissed him firmly on the mouth. The method by which she chose to display her growing attachment to this young man left no doubt in his mind about exactly what was different from one year ago. It was some time before they parted, and reluctantly at that. "Now do you get it?"

Shuzan reached up and scratched at the back of his head. "You know... I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to tell me."

"Oh, really?" Sasami's eyes narrowed as she looked carefully into Shuzan's eyes. She carefully rearranged his collar and then patted it into place.

"Liar. You just want to kiss me again."

"Oops. You got me." Shuzan chuckled.

"My, my, my." Sasami sighed. "What is it with boys anyway? You just can't wait to get a girl out of her clothes."

Shuzan reached up and gently stroked her face.

"It's because you're so beautiful."

Sasami blushed deeply at the compliment.

"How long do you think it'll be before we see each other again?"

Neither person spoke for a very long time. The life of a Jurai noble could span ten-thousand years. The thought of spending a significant portion of that away from each other was a very sobering thought for the young couple. Sasami slowly looked up at Shuzan, who looked down at her. Sasami blushed as she began thinking some very peculiar thoughts about what kind of memories she wished to leave Shuzan with during her absence.

"It could be a very long time." Shuzan answered as he took a step towards the bed with Sasami's hand in his. He couldn't help but notice how red in the face Sasami was becoming.

"It's all right. We can just sit and talk if you like."

Sasami shook her head. She wanted to do something for Shuzan and for herself. But she just felt so nervous. One very specific thing was running through her mind. And even though she and Shuzan had a serious relationship, she felt completely unprepared to take things any further.

Shuzan sat on the edge of his bed and gently pulled on Sasami's hand, urging her to join him.

"Come sit with me."

Sasami sat down next to Shuzan. He put an arm around her, and that was all. For a long time they sat in silence until Shuzan finally spoke again.

"This is kind of awkward, isn't it?"

"Yes." Sasami replied.

"So. Um... you said you ran away from home to get away from your father."

"Yes."

"How long do you think it'll be before he comes looking for you?"

"Not long." Sasami grimly answered.

"Well..." Letting go of Sasami so as not to arouse his baser interests any further, Shuzan fell back on the bed. "It's probably for the best."

"True." Sasami agreed as she laid down next to Shuzan, draping an arm across his chest. "How long do you think it would take?"

Shuzan looked over at Sasami in surprise as she began fiddling with the buttons of his shirt.

"How should I know?"

"You're a guy." Sasami reminded him as she worked the buttons open from top to bottom. "You're supposed to know things like that."

"But... how would I know unless..."

"Oh, never mind." Sasami said as she cuddled up next to Shuzan. Putting a leg over his hips, she nuzzled up under his chin, inhaling his scent.

Shuzan laid his head back while reaching down to the thigh that she had raised up over his hips. He grasped the black material of her full-length winter skirt and began slowly pulling it up one handful at a time. "Seriously. I don't have any idea how long it might take."

Sasami shivered a little bit as she felt Shuzan reaching under her skirt. Uncertain if she could find it within herself to finally give him what she knew he wanted, Sasami clutched Shuzan all the tighter.

"Do you want to find out?" She asked, knowing how it would sound.

"Are you serious?" Shuzan asked lifting his head in surprise.

Feeling Shuzan's hand climbing ever higher, Sasami reached down and took the hand in her own.

"Not at all."

"I knew it."

"My, my." Seto looked up at the front of the large stone building and thought that no Jurai noble in his or her right mind would ever live in such a depressing stone edifice. "What a depressing home. I hope it's better on the inside."

Stepping up to the front door, she took up the large brass knocker and thumped it solidly against the door several times. She didn't like to be kept waiting outside, but it was the height of rudeness to just saunter in without ever having been invited. Once Tenchi or Aeka invited her, then she would feel more proper walking in without warning.

However, after a few moments had passed with no answer, she began to fear that she had arrived when no one was home. This was strange because she already had observed Azusa's Kirito in orbit around the planet. Where else would they be? Just as she was about to knock again, the door clicked, and slowly pulled inward. To Seto's great surprise, a small boy-child was answering her call. The little boy looked up at Seto in her open-neck kimono and pony-tail and smiled a big toothy smile.

Seto promptly grew weak in the knees. She had seen Misaki's pictures and heard from Airi how cute the little Hiroshi was, but the reality was much more than what she had expected. Even with her personal dislike of children, (Misaki not withstanding, of course), she felt that this child was something special.

"How adorable!" Seto smiled as she walked in the door and looked around. To her immense relief, the inside was much more livable than the outside. Obviously Aeka had redecorated.

"Lady Seto." Washu addressed her from the door way into the living room, where she had been keeping careful watch on Hiroshi's activities. "To what do we owe the honor of your visit?"

Ignoring Washu's less than subtle inquest, Seto knelt down and held out her arms for the smiling little boy to come give her a hug.

"Come give grammy a hug!"

Hiroshi promptly obeyed. He came right up to her and gave her the requested hug.

"Oh, you're so polite!" Seto actually pinched him by the cheeks. "And cute!" She started cooing at him, to which the boy started laughing.

"We're thinking he's going to be the next court jester he laughs so much." Washu sighed.

"Oh, woudn't that be wonderful?" Seto released the boys rosy cheeks and stood up. "We haven't had a court jester in three thousand years. I might even stay at the palace more if that happened."

"I'm not sure Aeka would approve of that." Washu smiled knowingly at Jurai's most infamous princess.

"Oh, you can't believe all the rumors."

The two imposing women stared at each other, grinning a bit while they sized each other up. Then Washu extended a hand.

"You know, we've never really sat down and talked."

Seto accepted the peace overture by taking Washu's hand and gently shaking. "Why, I believe you're right. It is about time, isn't it?"

Azusa pounded his fist on the front door to the Amaki brothers' residence. Almost immediately, a servant answered the door. The butler bowed deeply at the sight of the King of Jurai as he rather rudely, though the butler would never say so to his face, invited himself in and began looking around the main foyer with a suspicious eye.

"Is the Princess Sasami in this residence?"

The butler stayed bent over at the waist. "Yes, your Highness."

Azusa inhaled and then bellowed at the top of his lungs.

"SASAMI!"

There was no answer. With a growl of growing suspicion, Azusa headed straight for the second floor where most civilized people kept a bedroom. The butler followed after him, bowing and scraping as best he could. But the look of fury on the king's face kept the other servants from approaching.

As he climbed up to the second floor, he yelled again.

"Sasami!"

Again, there was no answer. Azusa turned his fury on the butler.

"Where is my daughter!?"

Again, the butler bowed deeply. "I expect she is in the young master's rooms."

"Young master?"

"Master Shuzan, your Highness."

Azusa stared at the butler for several seconds as he digested this. He tried not to be angry with the servant. The man had nothing to do with it. But his highly suspicious and overly-protective nature demanded that he act to preserve his daughter's honor and virtue.

"If that Amaki boy has so much as laid a single finger on my daughter..."

"M-M'lord..."

"I'll kill 'em!"

The butler fell over backwards in fright, cowering before the burning fury in the King's eyes.

Azusa turned and stomped up the last two stairs and then yelled for a third time.

"SA-SA-MI!" With the utterance of the last syllable of the young princess's name, the walls shook and blue energy crackled and snapped across the floor and ceiling. The overhead chandelier blew out all seventy two light bulbs in a massive showers of sparks, and a nearby intercom panel started to billow smoke. Again, there was no response. Choosing from left or right, Azusa went left.

"SHUZAN! Show your cowardly face!" He bellowed striding purposefully down the hallway. At the first door, he at least attempted to use the door-knob. The door opened easily. Peering into what appeared to be a small library, he saw that it was unoccupied.

With a grunt of annoyance, Azusa went to the next door. This one also opened easily to reveal a study or sitting room with several desks and chairs. Again, he saw no one. However, on the adjoining right wall there was a closed interior door. Looking further down the hallway, he deduced that this door must lead to the next room. If he used the other, anyone inside could escape through this door.

Striding quickly across the carpet, Azusa tried the interior door and found it to be locked. With a satisfied grin, he swung a meaty fist into the door and blasted it into a million fragments of dark wooden decor. At first glance, he saw no one in the bedroom that was revealed. But after a second, two youthful faces peered up from behind the bed where they had taken shelter from the exploding door.

"There you are!"

Sasami stood up, fully-clothed much to Azusa's relief, an annoyed look on her face.

"That was really rude, Daddy."

"Rude?" Azusa's went wide for a second. There were far more important things on his mind than manners.

"This... you should not be in here."

"Why not?" Sasami boldly questioned her father.

"It's the bedroom!"

"And?"

"A young lady should not be alone with a man in his bedroom!"

"Why not?"

Azusa nearly blew a fuse.

"I will not argue! Come here!"

Sasami folded her arms across her chest and looked away.

"No."

"Uh, Sasami..." Shuzan tried to convince Sasami that in this case, surrender might be the better decision. Standing up so as to present a better appearance of propriety, he could see that Sasami's father was turning very red in the face. "Maybe you should do what he says."

"Sasami," Azusa glowered over the teen-agers. "You WILL come with me!"

"I will not! And if you force me," Sasami said as she looked her father in the eye, "I will hate you forever!"

Clenching his fists in frustration, Azusa carefully considered if his daughter's safety was worth earning her eternal damnation.

"So be it."

Sasami's eyes went wide as her father grasped the edge of Shuzan's bed, which stood between them, and tossed it aside like so much cardboard. The threat of her eternal hatred had always worked before. But he seemed so angry and determined. Finally, it dawned on Sasami that, just as Shuzan had suggested, there must be some all-important reason for this. Too late, she decided that reason might be more effective than straight disobedience.

"Wait."

But apparently the King had had enough of listening. He snatched Sasami's left wrist.

"Daddy, wait!"

Shuzan looked on, frozen solid with uncertainty. He did not at all want Sasami to leave. But this was not just Sasami's father, but the King of Jurai. If he interfered, there was no telling what might happen.

Watching as Azusa dragged Sasami away, Shuzan was seized by a sudden urge to do something. Snapping out of his self-induced paralysis, Shuzan lurched forward. He yanked open the door to his bedroom and ran out into the hallway hoping to intercept the king before he could get away. Somehow he managed to head-off Azusa before he made it out of his study with daughter in tow.

"Excuse me! Just a moment."

"What?!"

Shuzan bowed deeply to show the proper respect to the King.

"Sasami has been invited to my birthday party here this evening and I have yet to hear her reply."

"No." Azusa answered curtly and withot regard to his daughter's feelings. "Now stand aside."

"Daddy, you can't do that!" Sasami twisted her wrist in an effort to escape her father's iron grip. "It's my choice!"

"We don't have time for these... frivolties! We are leaving! Now, young Lord Shuzan. Will you stand aside, or must I force my way out?"

Again, Shuzan bowed, deeper this time.

"With respect, I must protest. Sasami is my honored guest. She has the protection and courtesy of House Amaki while she is in our home. Removing her against her will..." Shuzan hesitated to finish his statement. Going any further would put him and his family into open conflict with House Masaki.

"And...?" Azusa prompted the boy.

"And..." Shuzan tried to make himself say what he wanted to say. But saying THAT to the King's face was something very serious.

"I thought so." Azusa brushed past Shuzan dragging along Sasami, who looked back clearly disappointed that he hadn't told her father off.

"But..."

Azusa did not wait. In fact, he didn't even acknowledge anyone had said anything. He had his daughter, if reluctantly, and now he was going to leave, thus insuring her safety from the approaching armies.

Out by the front door, which the butler had neglected to close due to total and debilitating terror induced by the Jurai King's display of power, Tenchi, Ryoko, and Aeka finally arrived to see what was going to happen. They peered into the house to watch the spectacle.

Shuzan followed the King of Jurai down the main staircase towards the front door. Sasami looked sorrowfully back over her shoulder and waved goodbye. They got two more steps lower before Shuzan suddenly realized that this was totally unjust and that he simply wasn't going to stand for it. He couldn't just watch Sasami being dragged off against her will, even if it was her father doing it.

"Stop!" Shuzan ran down the stairs three at a time, bypassing the king and coming to a screeching halt at the bottom of the staircase.

"Get out of the way, boy!"

"I will not! This is my family's house! You have no right to drag our guests out! You have no right to destroy our property! You have no right to insult Amaki Family's honor like this!"

Ryoko smiled at the boy's display of anger. "Ooh! He's got balls!"

"Shush!" Aeka gave Ryoko a nasty glare before returning her attention to the front.

Azusa came to a stop at the bottom of the staircase just in front of the irate young man.

"So, this is about honor, is it?"

"Yes. And, it's also about how wrong it is to make your daughter cry."

Azusa stared intently at the young man. He tried to read him. But something about this young prince gave him pause. Were it his uncle Shusan or brother Seiryu, Azusa could have blown right past them without a problem. But the boy had strength of character enough to tell the Jurai King to his face that he was being insulted. Frankly, Azusa rather liked his straight-forwardness. Releasing his daughter, Azusa sent her out the door.

"Sasami, go stand with your sister."

"But..."

"Go!" Azusa barked, unwilling to listen to any more objections.

Sasami went a few steps and then stopped. She couldn't believe this was actually happening. Were her father and Shuzan really going to fight? It all felt so surreal. Things like this shouldn't happen. Family shouldn't fight against one another. House Masaki and House Amaki had always been at odds ever since the beginning. How Sasami knew that, she didn't know. But she knew that what was about to happen was just plain wrong. Turning back, she tried once more to implore them to stop.

"Please, don't fight."

Neither person seemed to hear Sasami. They stood still, sizing each other up until the king finally flung back his mantle and drew the master key from its sheath on his belt.

"Very well, boy. But I won't go easy on you."

Shuzan nearly wet himself. Fearing that he had just made the mistake of a lifetime, he fumbled with the energy sword he now wore at his own belt and dropped it.

"Damn!"

Everyone groaned as he bent down to retrieve it.

"This is ridiculous." Tenchi started to go in to put an end to what looked like a humiliating defeat for Shuzan. But Ryoko's hand on his arm stopped him.

"Wait." Ryoko insited with a serious look on her face.

Tenchi looked with surprise at Ryoko. He had not been expecting something like that from her.

"Keep your eyes on Sasami." She suggested. "That's where the real show will be."

Ryoko could feel some serious power brewing in the reception hall. The energy that she felt was centered around Sasami. It made sense now that she was thinking on it. Sasami was a Jurai princess, and like her sister, she should possess similar powers to Aeka. What's more, she was also playing hostess to a goddess.

"Huh?" Tenchi looked from one girl to the other, wondering what they were talking about. "But..."

"You shouldn't fight!" Sasami yelled as tears began to roll down her cheeks.

Seeing his daughter with tears in her eyes over this affair, Azusa thought that perhaps he could let this go. He had been prepared to do so from the beginning. But Shuzan didn't seem to be interested in a peacable solution. With a sigh, he decided he could afford to show some extra patience with this young man for his daughter's benefit.

"Shuzan. In recognition of the disparity in our abilities, I am prepared to forget your words, so long as you allow me to take my daughter home with no further interference."

Shuzan stood still, contemplating the King's offer. He felt tempted to accept. An honor duel was a serious thing. People died in these fights. Shuzan held no doubts as to the outcome. He could only hope that Azusa would show him mercy at the end. Looking over at Sasami, Shuzan felt angry to see her cry. The sight of her tears merely stiffened his resolve.

"A warrior's word, once given, may not be taken back. And frankly," Shuzan looked the King in the eye, "I'm insulted you would even ask."

Azusa's eyes went wide in shock. Here he was trying to be the benevolent father figure, and this child threw his kindness right back at him! It was time to teach this boy a lesson in manners.

"I try to show you mercy, and you refuse?!" Azusa promptly dropped into the formal beginning posture for a duel of honor. "En Guarde!"

Shuzan barely had time to assume the start position before Sasami's father leapt at him with a fierce battle cry.

Seeing her father and boy friend engage in a life or death struggle caused Sasami to lose the capacity for rational thought. She simply inhaled and screamed as loudly as she could.

"NO-O-O-O-O!"

Everything suddenly slowed to a crawl. Motion, gravity, matter, and energy all came as close to a total stop as they could get and still exist within the confines of the laws of physics. A column of light began to coalesce just behind Sasami. The temperature in the room quickly dropped, and the lights grew dim, as if the column was drawing energy from the surrounding environment. Slowly, as if it was taking extra effort, the image of Tsunami formed from the column of light. Time resumed its normal pace.

Expecting a clash of energy blades, both Shuzan and Azusa pushed forward. When both of their swords suddenly blinked out, they slammed into each other and fell flat on their rears.

"Jurai Royal Family must not fight one another." The towering apparition softly admonished them.

Everyone looked at the being in awe, especially Shuzan, who had never before witnessed Tsunami's presence.

"Azusa-chan, Shuzan-chan, though you share a common ancestor and the grace bestowed upon you through the space-trees, still you fight. Don't you think it's time to put aside family squabbling and concentrate on more important matters?"

Azusa was quick to point out the cause of the conflict.

"He claims that I have shamed his honor."

"But, you were being rude."

For a fleeting moment, Tsunami's smile seemed to waver. It quickly came back. But it seemed as if she were exerting a conscious effort to keep the smile in place.

"I insist."

Azusa felt momentarily taken aback. But if it was Tsunami insisting, then he had no choice.

"Understood." The king quickly replied, even showing her the courtesy of a bow.

Shuzan took a side-long look at his nemesis. When the king looked down at him, he quickly averted his gaze, not wanting to cause any more friction between them.

"However," Tsunami continued, her smile quickly fading, "events here are moving faster than expected."

Tenchi paid careful attention to the goddess' words. She seemed to him somewhat weary.

"Lady Tsunami..." Tenchi stepped into the house from where he and the others were watching. She looked over at him, her smile returning. She seemed so pleased that he was showing concern for her.

"Tenchi, you needn't worry for me. As Sasami and I grow closer, it becomes more difficult for me to separate my mind from hers. Before long, she and I will become one, and I will no longer be able to appear to you this way. Then --"

Sasami guddenly groaned. At the same time, Tsunami seemed to wilt with fatigue.

"I must go." Tsunami stated as she began to fade away. Her smile returned quickly despite her apparent tiredness. "Congratulations on the new baby. I'm very happy for you."

Like a drop in a pond, the very air rippled and Tsunami disappeared. Sasami fell forward as if she had been released from some force that had been holding her upright. She would have fallen flat on her face if not for Shuzan, who jumped forward and caught her, keeping her from harm.

"Sasami!" Azusa also came forward, but not as fast as the younger Amaki nephew, who beat him to her. Sasami was already showing signs of wakefulness. She nodded slowly and put her arms over Shuzan's shoulders. By the way they were holding each other, they seemed to be very fond of each other.

"Father?"

Azusa turned to look at Aeka.

"Must we leave immediately? We really do need some time to pack things, and I'm certain House Amaki would be honored to have the King of Jurai attend Lord Shuzan's birthday celebration. Sixteen, I believe?"

"Yes." Shuzan answered, holding Sasami tightly.

Azusa sighed deeply. His indignation over the confrontation with Shuzan had disappeared and the danger he feared was not so immediate that they had to leave this very hour. However, he had no intention of leaving without his daughters.

"Twenty four hours, then we leave."

Everyone heaved a huge sigh of relief.

As Tenchi made his way through the immense Amaki residence on his return from the restroom to the rear grounds where the party was being held, he had to traverse a large balcony and wrap-around staircase. As he exited the rear doors, he saw the King of Jurai looking down from the outside balcony. Curious, he calmly walked up and joined him. Looking down, Tenchi saw that he was watching the party-goers enjoying themselves.

"This is much better." Tenchi mentioned off-hand, carefully trying to strike up a conversation with his father-in-law.

Azusa hummed to himself in agreement.

Since his statement seemed to have had little effect one way or the other, Tenchi decided to try something more relevant to the current situation. Seeing that Washu was not down enjoying the festivities, he thought he could safely say something about her without the short red-head exacting some terrible vengeance from the depths of her lab.

"Washu-chan is always saying how great and powerful the Galaxy Academy is."

Azusa nearly snorted with derisive humor at Tenchi's comment.

"This academy once belonged to the Jurai Royal Family."

"Is that so?" Tenchi asked, surprised.

"Thanks to Professor Washu, that is no longer the case."

"I had no idea." Tenchi offered, looking down at the party again.

Azusa glanced at Tenchi out of the corner of his eye.

"There is much you have to learn about Jurai. Yosho has been remiss in that area of your studies."

Tenchi felt a sudden chill go up his spine at the mention of studies.

"I... suppose." He admitted. "But --"

"On Jurai," Azusa interrupted, "you will learn these things. You will not be allowed to sit and become one of those dandies that the lower houses are so filled with these days. Like it or not, a state of war does exist, and you are a lineal decendant of the Jurai Royal Family. Should something happen to me, you will most likely be chosen to become the next King of Jurai. I will not have a fop of an aristocrat become the protector of our nation."

Listening to the Jurai King's rather lengthy speech, Tenchi realized that he took his duties as King just as seriously as his duties as a father.

"I understand."

"I hope so." Azusa said intentionally trying to give Tenchi the impression that he still disapproved of him. Lifting a hand to his chin in a thoughful expression, he began rattling off a potential course of studies for a young Jurai prince. "There will be History, Political Science, Religion, Sword-play --"

"Sword-play?" Tenchi softly repeated, wondering just how much one could learn about a sword.

"Oh?" Azusa finally directed the full force of his gaze on Tenchi. "Has Yosho also been remiss in that area?"

"No, not at all." Tenchi firmly replied, hoping to immediately dispel that rumor.

"Hmm... perhaps I should see to your evaluation in that subject personally."

"Uh, that really isn't necessary." Tenchi said, visibly cringing at the idea.

Seeing Tenchi's reaction, Azusa burst out in deep-throated laughter, drawing the attention of those who were gathered around the reflecting reflecting pool below them.

"What? Can't you take a joke? Ha-ha-ha!"

Everyone stared at the King as he laughed deeply. But just as quickly as the moment of hilarity arrived, it departed, and Azusa's usual deep brooding expression reasserted itself.

"Tenchi, our enemies are no longer content to sit on the doorstep. When I return to Jurai, I intend to marshall the military might of the four great houses and unite them to crush our enemies. The time of talk is over. Now we fight."

As witness to the king's pronouncement, Tenchi felt awed by his strength of presence. He seemed to radiate power on a huge scale. Feeling the power and presence right next to him, Tenchi almost felt sorry for the enemies of Jurai. King Azusa seemed unlikely to show mercy or weakness to those he would fight.

"What's gotten into him?"

Tenchi nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a certain red-head's voice right by his elbow.

"Geez, Washu!" Tenchi clutched his chest, wondering if it were possible for a person's heart to explode from fright. "Why do you have to scare me like that? Your almost as bad as Ryoko!"

"Oh?" Washu looked up at him with her typical cheeky grin. "At least I don't pinch your rear."

"Thank goodness for small favors." Tenchi muttered under his breath, scowling at Washu. He was wondering what he could possibly do to dissuade her from continuing this aggravating habit of scaring him almost to death when he noticed a tall woman with pale green hair and red eyes coming up behind Washu. Recognizing the imposing figure of Seto Kamiki, he decided to say nothing and see if Washu got what was coming to her for once. But somehow the king intuited her presence.

"Are you still following me around, Lady Seto?"

"Oh, no, Azusa-chan. I just happened to be in the neighborhood and thought I would stop by to see the baby."

"Of course."

"Oh! And as long as you're here, I have good news. Professor Washu has graciously volunteered to assist us in the upcoming conflict."

The king turned in surprise at the news. Even he felt some sense of hope at the prospect of having that kind of assistance.

"Is this true?"

"She makes it sound like I'm going to build weapons for you or something equally useless. But some people are poking around in my affairs and using that information against Jurai. So, that makes it my business, too. I'll share information with you, so long as you do the same."

Azusa looked up at the firm countenance of Lady Seto. He had been hoping for more from the diminuitive scientist. But, if this is what Seto was presenting him with, he knew it was the best they could get under the present circumstances.

"Very well."

"Well!" Washu sauntered up to the edge of the balcony. "You could show a little more gratitude than -- hey, are they having a party?" She asked forgetting all about Azusa's lack of proper manners when she saw the festivities below.

"It's Shuzan's birthday party." Tenchi reminded her.

"Oh, is that today?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Hmm, no wonder Sasami was so upset. I'd better go make sure everything's all right." Washu vanished right from between the royals, reappearing down below to participate with the rest of the family. Her target turned out to be the sake, rather than Sasami.

"Tenchi."

Tenchi looked once more to King Azusa.

"Yes?"

"I said the time for war comes. But tonight, is the time for celebration. Join your family. We leave first thing tomorrow." With that, Azusa disappeared in a column of light, returned to his ship once more.

"Well, then." Seto came up to Tenchi, barely giving him a moment to think. "Would the young prince care to escort a lady to the party?"

"Huh? Oh." Tenchi held out his elbow, offering it to Seto, who quickly accepted the gesture. They walked down to the stairs without word until they came within sight of Aeka, who promptly sprayed sake from her mouth when she saw Seto on Tenchi's arm.

"Grandmother!"

"What?" Seto innocently asked.

"But - but - but - but - you -" Aeka sputtered unable to speak her mind at the sight of Seto on her husband's arm. "You..."

"Oh, don't worry your pretty little head about it." Seto laughed. "He's just being polite."

Tenchi looked around knowing he was not in the know about some private joke and hating it.

"Is there something I should know?"

Quickly getting to her feet, Aeka came over to Tenchi and Seto and bowed to her grandmother respectfully.

"Thank you very much for seeing my husband here, Grandmother." Aeka snatched Tenchi by the arm, bodily pulling him away as if he were in danger. Seto pouted as if she were put out by Aeka's lack of deference.

"Aeka," Tenchi asked, "please tell me what is going on."

"Perhaps later." Aeka said, keeping a suspicious eye on her grandmother while leading him away.

Shusan Amaki sat in his favorite chair in his personal and private study in his family's estate on Jurai. The chair was an old friend from long ago and served him well. It only occasionally complained with a creak or squeek that was easily remedied with simple lubricants. The posh leather, made from real animal hides tacked to a wooden frame, was still whole and did credit to the manufacturer's name, which he had forgotten long ago.

His study was a vaulted room with massive timbers that supported an open half-dome that granted him an unobstructed view of Jurai's sky, which at the moment was dark with night and twinkling stars of all levels of brightness. From here he could look out upon the sea of stars that he had come from. For he was not originally of Jurai. Shusan had been adopted into the Amaki clan of the Jurai royal family, just as Seto had been adopted into the Kamiki family. It was not unusual for Jurai royal family to adopt. They did it frequently, though usually only for political reasons. With unusually long life-spans, royals tended to outlive their descendants on a regular basis.

Shusan's thoughts and ruminations were interrupted by the soft ringing tone of his comm-bracelet. The device was for unofficial use from important persons in his spy net. Shusan lifted his wrist up so that he could see the small holographic image that it would produce.

"Yes?" He scowled with disappointment at the image of his elder nephew. "Seiryu. To what do I owe the honor of this call?"

"Greetings, Uncle. You look well."

"This had better not be another one of your social calls."

Seeing that Shusan was in no mood for small talk, Seiryu went right to the point. "Uh, well, Uncle. I recall that you said that I should call if anything out of the ordinary happened here at the academy."

"And has something happened? Perhaps, something truly remarkable?" Shusan continued to glare at the image.

"I don't know if it's remarkable. But the Masaki family just left for Jurai."

"What?!" Shusan could actually see all of his carefully laid plans flying right out the window, thanks once again to the damnable union of Masaki and Kamiki.

"Yes, I was surprised as well. The King himself arrived and took them away. I hope... my report is satisfactory?" Seiryu practically cringed at asking the quality of his report.

Settling back into his chair as the surprised faded, Shusan began to stew. "Yes, Seiryu. You have done well. You were quite right to report this to me. Stay at the academy for the time being. I'll have more instructions for you soon."

"Yes, Uncle." Seiryu bowed his head in obesience and the image faded away.

Shusan steepled his fingers in front of his chin as he considered carefully the meaning of this developement. Azusa had promised to Shusan that his younger nephew would have exclusive rights to court Sasami in exchange for formal recognition of Tenchi as a prince of Jurai. Now the promise seemed to be broken. This put Shusan in a position of power over Azusa. The scandalously early birth of Aeka's first child had revealed the reason for the unusually generous offer from the Masaki family. If he were to make a big stink about this it would thoroughly embarrass the Masaki family, as well as damaging the king's personal credibility and honor. In war time, that could be devastatingly bad for the morale of the fighting men. It was so important in fact, that Shusan could probably push for a much more beneficial arrangement, such as a full engagement. He doubted the parties involved, Shuzan and Sasami, would object. His spies frequently reported on how they were always off alone someplace. But with Aeka already married to Yosho's grandson, the arrangement was less than ideal. It was better than nothing, but still less than satisfactory. And now this developement...

As he was mulling over the possibilities, his normal desk comm beeped. Would he never have a moment of peace with which to plot his ascendance to power?

"What is it, Anna?" He growled at his personal assistant, a rather attractive young woman he kept around more for her inter-personal skills rather than her clerical ones.

"Mister Standard is here for your afternoon appointment, sir."

"Standard?" Shuzan had to think for a moment to recall what the nature of the appointment was about. "Oh, yes. The businessman. What did he want again?"

"He's trying to sell us defense software, sir."

Despite his higher goals, the needs of an empire still had to be attended to, even for the head of a great house. But hearing his assistant's reminder, Shuzan suddenly recalled some interesting aspects of Standard's software, such as the capability to remotely control one computer system from another.

"Yes, send him in." Shuzan instructed Anna as he thought of how such a system could be put to use in a fleet of Jurai ships.

His own ship was only of the third generation. Though it was self-aware and very powerful, it could not command the allegiance of the several ships belonging to House Masaki or Kamiki, most of which were at least third generation if not higher. In fact, the exact opposite was possible. However, if this software were introduced into the super-computers of those ships, it could be possible to control them instead of being controlled.

The door to his study irised open, allowing Biff Standard to swager into his office.

"Lord Amaki." The tall businessman smiled.

"Mister Standard." Shusan stood up, all smiles and effluence. "Please, come in. I believe we have mush to discuss."

Far away from Freeport Space Colony, in a galaxy within a galaxy, there was an area of space strewn with broken carcasses of ships and strange apparitions from other dimensions. These unusual sights were the result of the dimensional fusion required to unite physical dimensions with other planes of existance. It sometimes gave those beings with only a physical body a good scare when one of these apparitions floated through a wall without so much as acknowledging that they, or the wall, even existed. But after some time spent adjusting to the frequent phantoms, one could work well enough in this area.

It is in this area of space that the leaders of the invading force kept their most valuable and important facilities. Even Choushin had to have minions to do the dirty work and keep track of the miriad of details that occured too quickly (at least for one who's attention spanned eons and multiple dimensions) to keep track of. Those minions resided here unless otherwise directed. One such minion was Naja Akara.

Naja was very happy to have such a vast laboratory within which she could continue her work. In fact, she was happy to have a life. Five thousand years ago, while on an archeological dig on planet K1190, space-pirates had attacked her expedition. She had lain, bloody and broken, buried underneath a pile of smoking rubble waiting for her friend and scientific partner, Washu Hakubi, to come and rescue her. But she never came. For days, she waited, drifting in and out of consciousness, until she died. Or, at least she thought she had died. Everything after the attack itself was something of a blur up to the point when she awoke in an open hall with many large columns lying on her back and looking up into darkness. A tremendous, gigantic, titanic, godly voice heralded the beginning of her new life. Oddly enough, it had been the voice of a woman.

"Blast and Damnation!"

The sudden curse surprised Naja so badly that she jumped out of her seat, her long silver hair flailed about and caught on her spectacles as she spun around to see what was wrong with her assistant. He rarely swore except when one of his experiments when badly wrong.

"What's wrong, Kagato-kun?"

The man, Naja's genetic clone, was sitting in a chair with a large image projecting helmet on his head growling with disgust at what he had just seen.

"The King of Jurai has arrived at Freeport and is engaging the clones."

Relaxing a bit, Naja walked down the single step into the depressed area where Kagato was monitoring the progress of the assault on Freeport Space Colony through the eyes and ears of the assault troops. Because the troops and Kagato had all been created using the same scientific process and DNA model, Kagato could keep mental tabs on the clone warriors through a low-grade telepathic link as they shared.

"Excellent. Let's see how they fare against Jurai royal family."

"But..."

By the dissatisfied look on Kagato's face, Naja could see that he disliked putting the warrior models up against such a powerful opponent so soon. They had worked hard just to get to this point. It was likely that the hard work that they had put in to getting to this point would be wiped away within minutes. Luckily, this model was fairly easy to produce and required minimal resources. The upcoming female model, based on Washu's design, was much more difficult to produce. Washu's design also included hard-wired mental programming that was proving quite difficut to bypass. For the moment, Naja decided that she should concentrate on the events at hand.

"Put the visuals on the viewer, please."

Situated directly to the front of the seat that Kagato was sitting in, the lab holo-viewer came on-line displaying a first-person view courtesy of one of the clone-warriors. Naja got a nice view of Azusa Masaki just before he lopped off the sword-wielding arm of the clone and then blasted it to cinders with a savage growl of enthusiasm. The view switched to another clone, which quickly succumbed to a similar fate. Several more went this way before Naja concluded that the clones would likely be destroyed to a man.

"They don't have the experience to defeat the Jurai King."

"This is why I objected to this experiment in the first place!" Kagato hissed in frustration. "Attacking the home of the Jurai King's mother and father was certain to draw him out."

"That wasn't the objective. It's a field test. We need to gather first-hand data on this model's capabilities in a real battle. They will encounter Jurai royal family at some point. At least this way we can control the test environment during the encounter."

"We already have the data from Princess Aeka. Why waste our resources?"

"Because if we don't need the new model, then we shouldn't produce it." Naja countered. "It takes longer and requires several times more Masu than these. Need I remind you that Masu do not grow on trees?" Naja was painfully aware of how limited the supply of masu was in this area of space. She had already calculated how many of each type of clone they could produce. The numbers were not encouraging.

"I am aware of that."

"Based on these observations, I feel certain we will need to implement Washu's design."

"I don't like it." Kagato growled reluctantly.

"It's my fault." Naja sighed with regret as she put a hand on her assistant's shoulder to comfort him. "My design was inferior to Washu's. I made improvements this time, but... she was always so far ahead of me."

Therein lay the dilemma. The powers-that-be, namely Tokimi, wanted the Ryoko-model for a specialized infiltrator that could stand-up to Jurai royal family. Only Washu's design was capable of that. The Kagato-model, as Naja like to think of it, could fight against royals using an energy blade such as what was generated by the master key in Azusa's possession. They were seeing that first hand. Each of the warriors on the screen had the ability to regenerate quickly enough to negate most kinds of damage incurred during combat. But the underlying mental control used to force the Masu into a coherent, though thoughtless, being made them rather unintelligent until they gained experience. These creations had no sense of free-will, and could only react as their mental programming and training had taught them. That training included a basic understanding of the necessary individual and group tactics to function effectively in combat. With their purpose being to function as occupation forces capable of teleporting into an installation and capturing it intact, there was no need for extensive and time-consuming mental programming. Thus, against an experienced and sufficiently powerful foe such as the King of Jurai, they had no real chance of victory.

Washu's design, on the other hand, came out of the growth tanks with more speed, more power, more agility, better toughness, improved learning ability, and a level of physical attractiveness that most male soldiers hesitated to fight against. They held an obvious combat advantage over her own design. The only drawback was the increase in time and resources required to actually produce them.

"You're thinking of her, aren't you?"

Naja looked down at Kagato and saw that she was unintentionally squeezing his neck. Letting go, she stared at her hand.

"I... apologize."

"No need for apologies."

Naja blushed at the assurance. Unlike the initial defective version, this Kagato was a complete male being, nor did he suffer from a lack of proper emotional balance.

Besides better behavior, this new Kagato also benefited from the knowledge recovered from Washu's old lab in Jurai space. Changing the sex and physical characteristics was a snap for anyone skilled in genetic manipulation. But that would merely create a being with the desired physical appearance. Only through the gift of Naja's goddess-empowered DNA was this design possible. Now not even Ryoko could stand up to him, at least not without learning how to properly harness the power in Washu's gems. Other than that, the only power in the universe to rival him was Tenchi, or should the situation require it, herself.

"I'm sorry, Kagato. But we had to know."

Kagato stared intently at the holographic monitors, mentally evaluating the King's display of prowess.

"I could finish him in two moves."

"I don't doubt it." Naja agreed, recalling the original Kagato. "Even your prdecesor had little difficulty with this one. It's the young one that I worry about."

The display they were watching suddenly shifted to some file footage of the young prince in question, Tenchi Masaki, revealing to Naja where Kagato's line of thinking was moving towards. If she allowed him to make an assessment of Tenchi's combat abilities, he might be inclined to fight him just out of curiosity.

"You know our instructions regarding that one. Lady Tokimi was absolutely clear. We should not fight directly against him."

Several bars charts and energy-level counters appeared on the display, overlaying the visible image of Tenchi with Light-Hawk Wings arrayed before him.

"Our sources indicate," Kagato stated for the record, "that this Tenchi is currently being trained by the Jurai King, himself."

"Which means?" Naja carefully inquired.

"It means that at some point we will likely have to deal with him one way or another. Therefore, we should begin gathering combat data on him from reliable sources. As you say, the first of the Ryoko-model clones have already begun their mental programming. Once that stage is complete a field-test will be in order. I propose that through the course of the testing phase, we send out one clone at a time to various locations with instructions to allow survivors to report its presence, thereby sowing distrust for the real Ryoko amung the populace. This should create confusion and distrust amung the rank and file soldiers, as well as the Royal family."

Naja thoughtfully tapped her fingers on the back of Kagato's chair as she considered his proposal. The plan had merit. Ryoko's infiltration abilities were well documented, and the fact that she was now a Jurai princess through marriage would be doubly embarrassing for the royal family, even if they knew that Ryoko was not a traitor. The ruse would be even more effective if they could lure Ryoko away from the others. A smile graced Naja's slim features as a certain near twin came to mind.

"Do you recall the information on Washu's former assistant, Yakage?"

"He was the one who made off with Ryoko's DNA and..." Kagato also smiled as the association clicked in his mind. "Ah. You would have the clones attack the space pirate Minagi. That should be sufficient to draw Ryoko away from Jurai. But what of the others? She does have a husband, after all."

"If we strike in the right place at the right time, they shouldn't be able to respond quickly enough. Besides, I believe we owe the young lady for her earlier interference."

"Indeed." Kagato smiled broadly in anticipation. "Yes. Indeed we do." His smile quickly grew to include a deep menacing chuckle that sent a shiver up Naja's spine. Sometimes she still worried that he was succumbing to the same superiority-complex that had plagued the original Kagato. She gently patted her assistant on the shoulder, hoping that allowing him his plan would placate him.

END.

AFTERWORD: Ah, the smell of treachery. Originally, I planned on having Hiroshi and Washu at the Amaki house during the confrontation between Azusa and Shuzan. It was only with some reluctance that I changed my mind and kept Washu at the Masaki house so that Seto could present her wishes to Washu. Also, I thought it would be prudent of Aeka to leave Hiroshi with Washu, who she knows is excellent with children. I'm heart-broken to leave out such a cute scene with Tsunami waving to Hiroshi.

I considered leaving Naja out of the final scene and only having some shadowy references to a female overseer. But after some thought I decided to keep her there. Taking her out would have required a complete rewrite of the scene. I was already behind the curve on getting this chapter out, so it seemed the right thing to do for that reason. There was nothing wrong with the scene, in my opinion. So I kept it.

I considered very carefully how much of Shusan Amaki's background to include in this chapter. Initially, I wanted to write a couple of paragraphs describing how he came to be in the Jurai royal family. But there wasn't a lot of detail regarding that. So I made a bunch of stuff up, only to finally find a family tree on the 3rd OAV #3 DVD that placed him as Mitsuki's nephew, and brother to three females of House Amaki. After a great deal (months) of delay and thought, I decided to simply allude to his pirate origins. Really, just how important is it, anyway?


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